Libera me
"Libera me" ("Deliver me") is a responsory sung in the Office of the Dead in the Catholic Church, and at the absolution of the dead, a service of prayers for the dead said beside the coffin immediately after the Requiem Mass and before burial. The text asks God to have mercy upon the deceased person at the Last Judgment. In addition to the Gregorian chant in the Roman Gradual, many composers have written settings for the text, including Tomás Luis de Victoria, Anton Bruckner (two settings), Giuseppe Verdi, Gabriel Fauré, Maurice Duruflé, Igor Stravinsky, Benjamin Britten, Sigismund von Neukomm, Krzysztof Penderecki, Antonio Salieri, Lorenzo Perosi, Arnold Rosner and Patrick Gowers (first stanza only). The Christian technical thrash band Believer also used the entire text in the operatically sung section of "Dies Irae (Day of Wrath)" in their 1990 album "Sanity Obscure".
The responsory is begun by a cantor, who sings the versicles alone, and the responses are sung by the choir. The text is written in the first-person singular, "Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death on that fearful day", a dramatic substitution in which the choir speaks for the dead person.

In the traditional Office, "Libera me" is also said on All Souls' Day (2 November) and whenever all three nocturns of Matins of the Dead are recited. On other occasions, the ninth responsory of Matins for the Dead begins with , but continues with a different text ().
Q604748
responsory
Concept
Q693410
Office of the Dead
Concept
Q9592
Catholic Church
Concept
Q2822053
absolution of the dead
Concept
Q2445643
prayers for the dead
Concept
Q51616
Requiem Mass
Concept
Q331055
burial
Concept
Q1821239
Last Judgment
Concept
Q26473
Gregorian chant
Concept
Q1541253
Roman Gradual
MEDIA
Q215128
Tomás Luis de Victoria
PER
Q81752
Anton Bruckner
PER
Q7317
Giuseppe Verdi
PER
Q104919
Gabriel Fauré
PER
Q183256
Maurice Duruflé
PER
Q7314
Igor Stravinsky
PER
Q150767
Benjamin Britten
PER
Q698066
Sigismund von Neukomm
PER
Q153469
Krzysztof Penderecki
PER
Q51088
Antonio Salieri
PER
Q590512
Lorenzo Perosi
PER
Q3468579
Arnold Rosner
PER
Q7146586
Patrick Gowers
PER
Q815610
Believer
ORG
Q3285565
Sanity Obscure
MEDIA
Q3077527
versicle
Concept
Q690940
first-person singular
Concept
Q1033140
All Souls' Day
Concept
Q1745337
nocturn
ORG
Q1437648
Matins
Concept
Q6540554
Libera me
MEDIA
Q6540554
Libera me
MEDIA
1990-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1990
DATE
+2^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
2
NUMBER
instance of
performer
publication date