With the completion of Aida in 1871 and the Requiem in 1874, Verdi, in his sixty-first year, believed that he had ended his career as a composer. There would follow only the revisions of Simon Boccanegra and Don Carlos (1881 and 1883, respectively) and his last two masterpieces, Otello (1887) and Falstaff (1893). Since the mid-1840s he had dominated without a rival the field of Italian opera, which is to say, Italian music, for opera was the only genre that mattered. His only work rivalling the operas, both in importance and quality, is the Requiem, probably the most frequently performed major choral work composed since the compilation of Mozart's Requiem.

In the last few decades most of the philological problems involving the Requiem have been resolved; and Chapters 1 and 2 summarize the current state of our knowledge about its genesis, its reception history, and contemporary performing practices. It should come as no surprise that there are few detailed analytical or critical studies of the Requiem: analysis of Verdi's music began in earnest only in the mid-1960s, and most energy has gone into study of the operas. Chapters 3–9 provide a comprehensive view of the work, while exploring some of the critical issues raised by individual sections. One of these issues is Verdi–s interpretation of the text and his reception of works that may have influenced him: the settings of Mozart, Cherubini, and Berlioz. Another aspect of its reception, the reactions of some of the major critics, is also considered in these chapters.