Mozart wrote only three sacred works during his Vienna years after leaving the services of the Archbishop of Salzburg - the Great Mass in C Minor, the wondrous Ave Verum Corpus and the Requiem. It is hard to say, but one could argue Mozart's Requiem is his greatest sacred work. It is a matter of opinion. Both the Mass in C Minor and the Requiem were left unfinished at his death, and are both therefore noble torsos of what might have been. Still, there are several complete movements from each of these pieces.
Both pieces contain fugues - the ingenious double fugue in the "Kyrie" section of the Requiem. The double fugue "Cum Sanctus Spiritus" of the Mass in C Minor. Both are intensely passionate and personal. One written in celebration of his marriage, the other a monument to himself, or so he believed. It may be hard to choose one over the other. Although a mere miniature compared to the two large masses, the Ave Verum Corpus motet for chorus, strings, and organ is no less moving than the two larger works. It could be argued to be the most serene and wondrous of all Mozart's works for its simplicity, yet passionate and deeply moving expression. It never ceases to amaze me hearing after hearing...
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