 Reger completed the composition on 25 August 1915. He wrote to the publisher N. Simrock on 8 September: "I 've finished two choral works (Der Einsiedler and Requiem). I think I can safely say that they're both among the most beautiful things I 've ever written." (Ich habe nun zwei Chorwerke ( Der Einsiedler und Requiem) fertig. Ich glaube sagen zu dürfen, daß diese beiden Chorwerke mit das Schönste sind, was ich je geschrieben habe. ) Requiem was first published by N. Simrock in 1916, edited by Ulrich Haverkampf, with the dedication Dem Andenken der im Kriege gefallenen deutschen Helden (To the memory of the German heroes who fell in the War). Simrock also published a vocal score as prepared by Reger himself.
