Franz Liszt was acquainted with the young Peter Cornelius, a multi-talented composer, violinist, actor, poet, librettist and essayist from Mainz. Cornelius had received a thorough grounding in music history, from Palestrina to Bach, when he approached Liszt and the circle of the ‘New Germans’. In 1852, he wrote a setting of the Introit of the Latin Requiem Mass, ‘Requiem aeternam’, in a classically refined style for male choir. That same year, Liszt urged him to ‘devote himself to church music with the utmost resolve’ – advice that Cornelius respectfully declined. His Requiem, composed in 1863, has nothing to do with the Catholic liturgy; Cornelius set to music a poem by the dramatist Friedrich Hebbel: “Soul, do not forget them, soul, do not forget the dead!” – Both of Cornelius’ choral works also feature on this CD.