Classical Music / Composers Datebook: Dec 5
Johann Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart
(January 27, 1756 - December 5, 1791)
Since his death in 1791, Wolfgang A. Mozart's Requiem has remained a profound presence in the midst of the world events, both tragic and joyous... although it talks about death as dark, agonizing, and pleading of help, Mozart's requiem is not a depressing work but rather graceful and powerful.
At the age of 35, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart passes away almost an hour after midnight on December 5, 1791, leaving his last composition, the Requiem Mass in D minor (K, 626), unfinished and completed with the assistance from his pupil Franz Xaver Süssmayr. This work is one of Mozart's considered masterpieces and most popular works to this day. While ailing and confined to bed, he tirelessly worked on it. (Image: MozartProject.org)
The Requiem was delivered to Count Franz von Walsegg, who had anonymously commissioned the piece for a requiem Mass to commemorate his wife's death anniversary, February 14. The Requiem Mass was first performed on January 2, 1793, in a private concert for the benefit of Mozart's grieving wife, Constanze Mozart.
Wolfgang A. Mozart's last words? It is not easy to verify the composer's last words, however, he allegedly passed away after saying: "The taste of death is upon my lips...I feel something that is not of this earth".
(January 27, 1756 - December 5, 1791)
Since his death in 1791, Wolfgang A. Mozart's Requiem has remained a profound presence in the midst of the world events, both tragic and joyous... although it talks about death as dark, agonizing, and pleading of help, Mozart's requiem is not a depressing work but rather graceful and powerful. At the age of 35, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart passes away almost an hour after midnight on December 5, 1791, leaving his last composition, the Requiem Mass in D minor (K, 626), unfinished and completed with the assistance from his pupil Franz Xaver Süssmayr. This work is one of Mozart's considered masterpieces and most popular works to this day. While ailing and confined to bed, he tirelessly worked on it. (Image: MozartProject.org)
Süssmayr work on completion from the Unfinished Mozart Requiem
The Requiem Mass in D minor, K. 626, was the last composition by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and was left unfinished at the Austrian composer's untimely demise in Vienna and completed by his devoted pupil Franz Xaver Süssmayr. Under the supervision of Constanze, Mozart's widow, efforts to complete the Requiem began immediately after the composer's death. She contracted a pupil of Mozart, Franz Xaver Süssmayr, to finish the work. Initially, she contracted two composers to work on Requiem's completion: Joseph Eybler and Franz Xaver Süssmayr. Joseph Eybler (1765-1846), was a good musician who later became Hofkapellmeister. He orchestrated the Dies irae as the Lacrimosa. Then he stopped working on it.The Requiem was delivered to Count Franz von Walsegg, who had anonymously commissioned the piece for a requiem Mass to commemorate his wife's death anniversary, February 14. The Requiem Mass was first performed on January 2, 1793, in a private concert for the benefit of Mozart's grieving wife, Constanze Mozart.
Photo: THE DEATH OF MOZART
Oil painting by Irish artist Henry O'Neill circa 1870
Below video, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Requiem in D minor K 626 (complete), with Nathalie Stutzmann, conductor · OSESP Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo · Coro Acadêmico e Coro da Osesp · Lisa Larsson, soprano · Wilke te Brummelstroete, mezzo soprano · John Mark Ainsley, tenor · Burak Bilgili, baritone / Recorded at Sala São Paulo, Brazil, 21 November 2013. Here's a link to another performance conducted by Nathalie Stutzmann: Mozart: Requiem - BBC PROMS 2019, The BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales, with Fatma Said, Kathryn Rudge, Sunnyboy Dladla and David Shipley in Mozart's Requiem. YouTube, uploaded by David Durham. Accessed December 6, 2022.
The Requiem is scored for 2 basset horns in F, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets in D, 3 trombones (alto, tenor & bass), timpani (2 drums), violins, viola and basso continuo (cello, double bass, and organ). The vocal forces include soprano, contralto, tenor, and bass soloists and a mixed choir of standard SATB.
In form, the work is in eight parts and contains fourteen musical numbers, as completed by Franz Xaver Süssmayr.
MOZART REQUIEM:
I. Introitus
Requiem aeternam
II. Kyrie
Kyrie eleison
III. Sequenza
Dies irae
Tuba mirum
Rex tremendae
Recordare
Confutatis
Lacrimosa
IV. Offertorium
Domine jesu
IV. Offertorium
Domine jesu
Hostias
V. Sanctus
VI. Benedictus
VII. Agnus Dei
VIII. Communio
Lux aeterna
The Requiem Revealed
(Reference: Post by Cristina Iordache at European Mozart Ways, Dec 11, 2020)
In
the evening of 10 December 1791 the Requiem may have been played for
the first time! Gathered in St Michael’s Church in Vienna to attend the
memorial for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the audience may have listened to
the heavenly music that Mozart only ever heard within himself. As the
Requiem unfolded to the world, Mozart was offering humanity his last,
most precious gift, and the proof that he will go on living forever,
through his divine Music.
Four
days after the burial, so the 'Auszug aller europäischen Zeitungen'
(European Press Digest) of 13 December reported, the Viennese
“celebrated solemn obsequies for the great composer Mozart” in St.
Michael’s Church. On the sixteenth, the Viennese journal 'Der heimliche
Botschafter' (The Secret Messenger), which circulated in scribes’
copies, identified the music at this service as “the requiem he composed
during his final illness…” “In view of the manuscript’s unfinished
condition, only the first movement, and perhaps the second with some
instrumental touches added, could have been performed with orchestra;
the other sections very likely took the form of Mozart’s choruses sung
by a quartet and supported by organ continuo; plainchant might have
filled the missing sections.”
This is how Mozart’s Requiem may have sounded like, on that day of 10 December 1791… Here: W.A. Mozart - Requiem K.626 - Reconstruction of Mozart's Memorial Service. (YouTube, uploaded by hollowchatter. Accessed December 5, 2020.) A reconstruction of the Introit and Kyrie fugue as they may have been
performed at Mozart's memorial service at St. Michael's Church in Vienna
on December 10th 1791, just five days after his death. In this
historically informed performance, the orchestra has been reduced to an
ensemble of eight singers, single wind and single lower strings with
doubled violins. Due to uncertainty over when the parts were written,
the trumpet and timpani have been omitted from the Kyrie.
Performed by the Dunedin Consort and Orchestra conducted by John Butt.
Professor
Dr Michael Lorenz: “This is the standard work about the Requiem at St.
Michael’s: ‘Mozart and the Practice of Sacred Music, 1781-1791‘ by David
Ian Black” - Here.
Myths and controversies have immensely surrounded this piece, in particular, the question of how much actually was written by Mozart before he passed on. The autograph manuscript shows the finished and orchestrated introit in Mozart's hand, as well as detailed drafts of the Kyrie and the sequence Dies Irae as far as the first nine bars of Lacrimosa,
and the offertory. It cannot be shown to what extent Süssmayr may have depended on now lost "scraps of paper" for the remainder. Süssmayr later claimed that the Sanctus and Agnus Dei was his own.
An autograph manuscript shows the finished and orchestrated introit in Mozart's hand, as well as detailed drafts of the "Kyrie" and the sequence "Dies Irae" as far as the first nine bars of "Lacrimosa", and the offertory. It cannot be shown to what extent Süssmayr may have depended on now lost "scraps of paper" for the remainder although he later claimed the "Sanctus" and "Agnus Dei" as his own.
Walsegg probably intended to pass the Requiem off as his own composition, as he is known to have done with other works. This plan, however, was frustrated by a public benefit performance for Mozart's widow Constanze. A modern contribution to the mythology is Peter Shaffer's 1979 play Amadeus, in which a mysterious messenger orders Mozart to write a requiem mass, giving no explanation for the order; Mozart (in the play) then comes to believe that the piece is meant to be the requiem mass for his own funeral.
An autograph manuscript shows the finished and orchestrated introit in Mozart's hand, as well as detailed drafts of the "Kyrie" and the sequence "Dies Irae" as far as the first nine bars of "Lacrimosa", and the offertory. It cannot be shown to what extent Süssmayr may have depended on now lost "scraps of paper" for the remainder although he later claimed the "Sanctus" and "Agnus Dei" as his own.
Walsegg probably intended to pass the Requiem off as his own composition, as he is known to have done with other works. This plan, however, was frustrated by a public benefit performance for Mozart's widow Constanze. A modern contribution to the mythology is Peter Shaffer's 1979 play Amadeus, in which a mysterious messenger orders Mozart to write a requiem mass, giving no explanation for the order; Mozart (in the play) then comes to believe that the piece is meant to be the requiem mass for his own funeral.
St. Marx Cemetery.
Lyrics, translated from their Original Latin
Grant them eternal rest, Lord, and let perpetual light shine on them.
You are praised, God, in Zion, and homage will be paid to You in Jerusalem.
Hear my prayer, to You all flesh will come.
Grant them eternal rest, Lord, and let perpetual light shine on them.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Day of wrath, day of anger will dissolve the world in ashes, as foretold by David and the Sibyl.
Great trembling there will be when the Judge descends from heaven to examine all things closely.
The trumpet will send its wondrous sound throughout earth's sepulchres and gather all before the throne.
Death and nature will be astounded, when all creation rises again, to answer the judgment.
A book will be brought forth, in which all will be written, by which the world will be judged.
When the judge takes his place, what is hidden will be revealed, nothing will remain unavenged.
What shall a wretch like me say?
Who shall intercede for me, when the just ones need mercy?
King of tremendous majesty, who freely saves those worthy ones, save me, source of mercy.
Remember, kind Jesus, my salvation caused your suffering; do not forsake me on that day.
Faint and weary you have sought me, redeemed me, suffering on the cross; may such great effort not be in vain.
Righteous judge of vengeance, grant me the gift of absolution before the day of retribution.
I moan as one who is guilty:
owning my shame with a red face; suppliant before you, Lord.
You, who absolved Mary, and listened to the thief, give me hope also.
My prayers are unworthy, but, good Lord, have mercy, and rescue me from eternal fire.
Provide me a place among the sheep, and separate me from the goats, guiding me to Your right hand.
When the accused are confounded, and doomed to flames of woe, call me among the blessed.
I kneel with submissive heart, my contrition is like ashes, help me in my final condition.
That day of tears and mourning, when from the ashes shall arise, all humanity to be judged.
Spare us by your mercy, Lord, gentle Lord Jesus, grant them eternal rest. Amen.
Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory, liberate the souls of the faithful, departed from the pains of hell
and from the bottomless pit.
Deliver them from the lion's mouth, lest hell swallow them up, lest they fall into darkness.
Let the standard-bearer, holy Michael, bring them into holy light.
Which was promised to Abraham and his descendants.
Sacrifices and prayers of praise, Lord, we offer to You.
Receive them in behalf of those souls we commemorate today.
And let them, Lord, pass from death to life, which was promised to Abraham and his descendants.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant them eternal rest.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant them eternal rest.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant them eternal rest forever.
Let eternal light shine on them, Lord, as with Your saints in eternity, because You are merciful.
Grant them eternal rest, Lord, and let perpetual light shine on them, as with Your saints in eternity,
because You are merciful.
Grant them eternal rest, Lord, and let perpetual light shine on them.You are praised, God, in Zion, and homage will be paid to You in Jerusalem.
Hear my prayer, to You all flesh will come.
Grant them eternal rest, Lord, and let perpetual light shine on them.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Day of wrath, day of anger will dissolve the world in ashes, as foretold by David and the Sibyl.
Great trembling there will be when the Judge descends from heaven to examine all things closely.
The trumpet will send its wondrous sound throughout earth's sepulchres and gather all before the throne.
Death and nature will be astounded, when all creation rises again, to answer the judgment.
A book will be brought forth, in which all will be written, by which the world will be judged.
When the judge takes his place, what is hidden will be revealed, nothing will remain unavenged.
What shall a wretch like me say?
Who shall intercede for me, when the just ones need mercy?
King of tremendous majesty, who freely saves those worthy ones, save me, source of mercy.
Remember, kind Jesus, my salvation caused your suffering; do not forsake me on that day.
Faint and weary you have sought me, redeemed me, suffering on the cross; may such great effort not be in vain.
Righteous judge of vengeance, grant me the gift of absolution before the day of retribution.
I moan as one who is guilty:
owning my shame with a red face; suppliant before you, Lord.
You, who absolved Mary, and listened to the thief, give me hope also.
My prayers are unworthy, but, good Lord, have mercy, and rescue me from eternal fire.
Provide me a place among the sheep, and separate me from the goats, guiding me to Your right hand.
When the accused are confounded, and doomed to flames of woe, call me among the blessed.
I kneel with submissive heart, my contrition is like ashes, help me in my final condition.
That day of tears and mourning, when from the ashes shall arise, all humanity to be judged.
Spare us by your mercy, Lord, gentle Lord Jesus, grant them eternal rest. Amen.
Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory, liberate the souls of the faithful, departed from the pains of hell
and from the bottomless pit.
Deliver them from the lion's mouth, lest hell swallow them up, lest they fall into darkness.
Let the standard-bearer, holy Michael, bring them into holy light.
Which was promised to Abraham and his descendants.
Sacrifices and prayers of praise, Lord, we offer to You.
Receive them in behalf of those souls we commemorate today.
And let them, Lord, pass from death to life, which was promised to Abraham and his descendants.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant them eternal rest.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant them eternal rest.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant them eternal rest forever.
Let eternal light shine on them, Lord, as with Your saints in eternity, because You are merciful.
Grant them eternal rest, Lord, and let perpetual light shine on them, as with Your saints in eternity,
because You are merciful.
Trivia:
This year in March 2022, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs presented MOZART Requiem & Revelations.
Suggested Links:
St Marx Cemetery, where Mozart had been buried.
A Most Sublime Torso: Unraveling the Threads of the Mozart Requiem by Dr. Vincent DeLuise. A Musical Vision. Accessed September 11, 2013.
St Marx Cemetery, where Mozart had been buried.
A Most Sublime Torso: Unraveling the Threads of the Mozart Requiem by Dr. Vincent DeLuise. A Musical Vision. Accessed September 11, 2013.
Mozart: The Last Journey. Mozart's Children at wordpress.com. Accessed December 5, 2022.
Mozart Requiem. Uploaded by madhammu. Accessed December 5, 2019.
Mozart Requiem, K626 - Gardiner. Uploaded by Cantus 5. Accessed December 5, 2016.
Mozart Requiem with Sir Colin Davis 2004 (with multisubs). Uploaded by Music Lover. Accessed December 5, 2019.
Mozart Requiem, K626 - Gardiner. Uploaded by Cantus 5. Accessed December 5, 2016.
Mozart Requiem with Sir Colin Davis 2004 (with multisubs). Uploaded by Music Lover. Accessed December 5, 2019.
W. A. Mozart - Requiem D Minor KV 626 (Robert D. Levin) | WDR Sinfonieorchester | Dima Slobodeniouk. (performance completion by Robert D Levin). Performed on March 15, 2019 at the Cologne Philharmonic Hall. performed by the WDR Symphony Orchestra and the WDR Radio Choir under the Baton of Dima Slobodeniouk. Soloists are Christina Landshamer (soprano), Marie Henriette Reinhold (alto), Martin Mitterrutzner (tenor) and Franz-Josef Selig (bass).
"Levin thoughtfully makes only very light corrections of errors in the basset horn parts that were originally edited by Sussmayr, includes the awe-inspiring Amen fugue fragment that Mozart wrote for inclusion right after the Lacrimosa, fixes and adds a Hosanna fugue begun by Sussmayr, but otherwise allows the music created by Mozart and Sussmayr to shine through." ~ Vincent DeLuise
Mozart Requiem, Original Unfinished Version
(Youtube, uploaded by verklaertenacht1899. Accessed December 11, 2023)
1. Mozart: Requiem, original unfinished version [1/3]
2. Mozart: Requiem, original unfinished version [2/3]
3. Mozart: Requiem, original unfinished version [3/3]
Mozart's Requiem has been used in movies: (list not exhaustive)
Amadeus: Mozart Requiem - Introitus, Dies Irae, Rex Tremendae Majestatis, Confutatis, Lacrimosa
Elizabeth: Mozart's Requiem - aeternam
Incredible True Story of Two Girls in Love: Mozart's Requiem - Dies irae
Primal Fear: Mozart Requiem - Lacrimosa
The Big Lebowski -- Primal Fear: Mozart Requiem - Lacrimosa
The Lion King -- Mozart Requiem - Lacrimosa
The Affair of the Necklace-- SLC Punk!-- Solitaire for Two: Mozart Requiem aeternam and Dies irae
Eyes Wide Shut: Mozart Requiem - Rex Tremendae Majestatis
Video Credits:
Amadeus: Mozart Requiem - Introitus, Dies Irae, Rex Tremendae Majestatis, Confutatis, Lacrimosa
Elizabeth: Mozart's Requiem - aeternam
Incredible True Story of Two Girls in Love: Mozart's Requiem - Dies irae
Primal Fear: Mozart Requiem - Lacrimosa
The Big Lebowski -- Primal Fear: Mozart Requiem - Lacrimosa
The Lion King -- Mozart Requiem - Lacrimosa
The Affair of the Necklace-- SLC Punk!-- Solitaire for Two: Mozart Requiem aeternam and Dies irae
Eyes Wide Shut: Mozart Requiem - Rex Tremendae Majestatis
Video Credits:
W.A. Mozart - Requiem K.626 - Reconstruction of Mozart's Memorial Service. YouTube, uploaded by hollowchatter. Accessed Dec 14. 2020.
Mozart - Requiem in D minor (Complete/Full) Natalie Stutzmann. Accessed Dec 5, 2020.
Requiem in D minor [Maunder's Edition] - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. YouTube, uploaded by Sergio Canobas. Accessed Dec 5, 2022. (Westminster Cathedral Choir and the Academy of Ancient Music Orchestra & Chorus conducted by Christopher Hogwood.)
Story of Mozart's Requiem, Youtube, uploaded by Codonauta. Accessed 4 Dec 2015.
Resources:
My private Mozart library, and various notes / active discussions with fellow Mozartians from various Mozart and classical music groups, as far back as 2005. / Tel, 22nd March 2008.
(c) December 2007. Updated December 5, 2022. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.
Resources:
My private Mozart library, and various notes / active discussions with fellow Mozartians from various Mozart and classical music groups, as far back as 2005. / Tel, 22nd March 2008.
(c) December 2007. Updated December 5, 2022. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.
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