Requiem for 4 solo voices, mixed choir and orchestra, 1945-49; 1981.

Palester started working on this monumental composition as early as in 1945. The autograph of the piano score of the first version indicates 17 November 1945 as the completion date. This version had nine movements (i.e. one more than the final version) and was dedicated to the victims of war. While working on its instrumentation, Palester introduced many changes. The final version was completed in Paris in the early 1949.

Palester’s Requiem is one of his greatest works. It was highly regarded by the author himself. After its Polish premiere by the Warsaw Philharmonic conducted by Bohdan Wodiczko, on 1 October 1957, Bohdan Pociej wrote in Ruch Muzyczny: "It ought to be said very clearly that not since Szymanowski’s Stabat Mater have we had a more distinguished work of this genre". Fragments of Requiem were performed already on 11 March 1946 but the world premiere of the whole composition was held in Brussels on 12 October 1950.

The Requiem, composed to the Latin text of the Mass for the Dead, consists of eight movements: Requiem, Dies irae, Quid sum miser, Confutatis, Lacrimosa, Sanctus, Lux Aeterna and Agnus Dei. Palester avoids here sharp dramatic effects, opting for a tone of personal reflexion. The work refers explicitly to the tradition of Renaissance and Baroque masters. In 1981 Palester reviewed his composition once again. It was published by the PWM in 1949 as a piano score.