The
Requiem Mass is notable for the large number of musical compositions that it has inspired, including settings by
Mozart,
Verdi,
Dvorák,
Fauré and
Duruflé. Originally, such compositions were meant to be performed in liturgical service, with monophonic chant. Eventually the dramatic character of the text began to appeal to composers to an extent that they made the requiem a genre of its own, and the compositions of composers such as Verdi are essentially concert pieces rather than liturgical works.