This paper touches not only on the musical - formal analysis of Fauré 's Requiem, but also on the author's attempt to present a wider picture of the origin of this masterpiece. Primarily, this refers to the time of creation and the time of the composer's work, which is at an unusual turning point of late romanticism and impressionism. However, Fauré is not a composer who sees himself in loco, but listens - like all great composers - to the social changes that surround him. Symbolism in literature, the beginnings of Impressionism in artistic expression, indications of Art Nouveau and Art Deco in architecture, are just some of the features of the turbulent end of the XIX. century in which this work originates. The phenomenon of rationalization of everything, including faith, should not be forgotten, because Fauré's Requiem is a kind of step forward - as we will later see in the words of the author himself - into a "new belief", "new mortality" and new blessedness. Everything said, from the musical aspect, represents an innovation that in the dawn of Impressionism, penetrates the already saturated musical language of late Romanticism, Fauré combines extremely elegantly and unobtrusively with the already well-known. There is no collision of impressionistic and romantic, tonality and modal, agile and lethargic treatment of the orchestra. This ingenious reconciliation of these elements places Fauré in the constellation of the greatest composers of mankind.