Requiem is scored for mixed choir, string orchestra, soprano solo, boy treble, harp, two horns and shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute). With a duration of about fifty-five minutes, there are thirteen movements, five of which are set to Japanese texts called Jisei, or death poems. Each jisei is in the form of a haiku and is performed by soprano Nicole Tibbels. The rest of the work Karl has set to the Latin requiem mass and is performed by combined choirs from Wales--Côr Caerdydd, Serendipity and Cytgan--and directed by Tim Rhys-Evans. The string musicians are the West Kazakhstan Philharmonic Orchestra (Uralsk Philharmonic Orchestra), which is normally directed by Marat Bisegaliev, but on this recording Marat is leader of the orchestra under Karl's baton.