In 1983, Scottish climber Dave "Cubby" Cuthbertson free climbed the central crack on the northwest face of Dumbarton Rock and called it Requiem.

[5] In 2006, Scottish climber Dave MacLeod completed a 2-year project to continue Requiem's thinning central crack to the top, creating Rhapsody.

[2] MacLeod's route featured a large runout, and he took several 'bone crushing' 20-metre (66 ft) falls from its crux at the top onto tiny wire nuts for protection.

[5][2][7][8] In 2008, Canadian climber Sonnie Trotter made the first repeat of Rhapsody and added a variation between it and Requiem called Direqium that he graded 5.14a (8b+).

[11][18] Rhapsody and Requiem are essentially crack climbs with bouldering cruxes close to their very tops; they both break into three parts, the first two of which they share.

[20][15] The second part is a 15-metre (49 ft) narrow left-leaning diagonal 5.12d (7c) graded crack[a] up the centre of the face that both Requiem and Rhapsody follow.

[2] Rhapsody moves directly left on delicate 8b (5.13d) holds[a] before following the diminishing line of the original crack via a 14-move V11 (8A)[a] bouldering problem near the top.

[25] Rhapsody retains an intimidating reputation,[22] that started with MacLeod's 2006 announcement of his ascent where he said that he had taken nine 20-metre (66 ft) falls from the crux that was only held by "RP nuts",[b] and that: "I injured myself badly on some of my failed attempts.

[22][26] In April 2024, Norwegian climber Magnus Midtbo visited Dumbarton for his social media channel to try Rhapsody on a top rope, belayed by Dave MacLeod, and called it "possibly the most dangerous route in the world", noting the distance of the falls from the crux that needed to be held by tiny protective wire nuts.