Revolutionary Requiems

How Music Has Mourned the Great and the Fallen

By: Richard Fleischman

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Revolutionary Requiems: How Music Has Mourned the Great and the Fallen

by Richard Fleischman

Grief. Protest. Memory. Hope.

Music has always been the language of what cannot be said.

In Revolutionary Requiems, acclaimed author and music historian Richard Fleischman explores how composers have responded to personal and collective tragedy with works of astonishing power and depth. From ancient chants to modern compositions, this book traces the evolution of the requiem—not just as a form of mourning, but as a voice for resistance, remembrance, and transformation.

Inside, you’ll discover:

• The spiritual origins of the medieval requiem

• Mozart’s haunting final composition and the myths that surround it

• Berlioz’s theatrical mass for 1,000 performers

• Verdi’s operatic approach to grief and judgment

• Britten’s War Requiem and the shattering legacy of WWII

• National mourning in Penderecki’s Polish Requiem

• The emergence of secular, cinematic, and experimental requiems in the modern era

• How composers today write personal elegies for friends, lovers, and political martyrs

With passion, precision, and compassion, Fleischman shows how the requiem has endured—not as a static form, but as a living expression of humanity’s need to grieve, to speak truth, and to honor the fallen. This is music history as cultural resistance, spiritual reflection, and emotional witness.

Perfect for musicians, students, educators, and anyone who has ever found solace in a sorrowful melody.