Composed as a musical memorial for the Italian national poet Allessandro Manzoni, deeply admired by Verdi, and was first performed on the first anniversary of his death on May 22, 1874 in Milan Cathedral. The exploration of many extremes places Verdi's tonal language with musical means wholly in the service of a dramatized liturgy. The edition is based on the autograph as the primary source and makes accessible one of the most important requiem settings of the 19th century in a modern scholarly edition. In addition to the musical text the score contains a detailed foreword in three languages, a critical report with information on the source situation, the edition and the various readings.