Margaret Mikulska replies to Pablo Massa replying to Francisco Barbosa:

>>>Verdi one is a piece quite different from all the others.
>>
>>Curious. I find Verdi's Requiem much more "Catholic" than Faure's.
>
>And that's really curious, because Verdi was an atheist.

...Yes, but wasn't he Italian?

...Steve Schwartz, cultural determinist

yes -- but whether he was Italian, purple or an aetheist, I don't think
it ever presented him with a barrier to writing commercially successful
music.  I believe Verdi was a great businessman -- he wrote with an ear
to the market and an eye on what was going on around him.  Intensely
romantic, lush, rich sounding music at a time when the emotions of the
thinking public were being stirred by increased nationalism, a heightened
social awareness and an approaching era of plenty, as the approaching
twentieth century was seen by many.  During his lifetime he was constantly
accused of writing music to appeal to the populace rather than "serious"
music.

Tim Mahon, determined culturalist