Mozart Requiem

Mozart Requiem... Myth Vs. Reality

There are many myths and much romance about the Mozart Requiem.  While I absolutely loved "Amadeus" and it inspired me to become a composer myelf, I was treated to a fair dose of myth about the Mozart Requiem  and had to seek the facts out concerning this amazing work. 

One of the myths is that Salieri commissioned the Requiem of Mozart.  This is certainly not true.  It was commisioned by  Count Walsegg-Stuppach, a nobleman who commissioned a Requiem from Mozart in honor of his recently deceased wife.  However, Mozart did eventually come to believe he was working on the piece as his own funeral music as he felt his health slip away.  Hollywood ran away with this bit of fact and turned it into Salieri using the Requiem commission as a fatal weapon to kill Mozart.  Mozart did believe he was poisoned, but there is no evidence he actually was.  Mozart is said by some to have become quite delerious and paranoid near the end of his life - two symptoms consistent with renal failure - at least one of the causes of his death. 

While Mozart is said to have had friends come to his bedside to rehearse the Requiem, he certainly did not dictate the Requiem to Salieri as he did in "Amadeus."  His pupil who eventually finished the Requiem, Sussmayr, was probably given some instructions for completion, but the whole story nobody will probably ever know.  It is one of the great mysteries in music history.

Mozart Requiem... Did it Kill Him?

In the movie "Amadeus," when Mozart's wife Constanze asks Mozart why he is stalling to finish the Requiem, Mozart meekly responds, "It's killing me."  Of course, most know by now how much of "Amadeus" is historical fiction so we probably cannot take Peter Schaffer's script at face value.

However, there is plenty of historical documentation to indicate that Mozart did believe himself to have been poisoned by a slow-acting agent for which the person who gave it to Mozart had calculated the precise moment of his death.  So... whether Mozart was harmed by another or not, he believed himself to be, and that no doubt had an effect on how he approached his work on the Requiem. 

Mozart Requiem... Different Versions

Like Mahler's 10th Symphony, there are a few different versions of the Mozart Requiem, but only one of them, the "Sussmayr" version is performed with any regularity.  Since Sussmayr, a pupil of Mozart's, is the main person who "completed" the Requiem, it has often been accepted as the "definitive" version of the Requiem. 

Unlike Mahler's 10th, there are some movements of the Requiem which Mozart did not even sketch, such as the Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei, according to Syssmayr.  Did Sussmayr utilize any sketch material of Mozart's when completing these movements?  It is probably impossible to say.  The "Lacrimosa" had to be completed beyond the 8th bar, as Mozart did not go further than that.  The manuscript is eerily incomplete.    Legend has it Mozart was overcome with emotion while writing it - this last music he ever composed, and could not proceed.  The translation of "Lacrimosa" is "mournful day." 

Some other versions of the Requiem include a version by Franz Beyer, which attempts to reorchestrate some of Sussmayr's insensitive scoring and faulty harmonic realizations.  Another more radical version is one by Richard Maunder, which omits the "Sanctus," "Osanna," and "Benedictus" altogether, and completes the "Lacrimosa" from the ninth bar onwards in a completely different way, concluding it with  a fugal "Amen" based on sketches by Mozart that were discovered about 30 years ago. 

Mozart Requiem... Rex tremende

In the Mozart Requiem, pieces go from the sublime and beautiful, to the fiery and intense.  The "Rex tremende" is one of the more fiery pieces.  This was one of the pieces from the Requiem used in the film soundtrack of "Amadeus."  The text is quite short, the translation simply reading... "King of awful majesty, Who freely savest the redeemed, Save me, O fount of goodness." 

Mozart clearly was giving his all when working on the Requiem.  He took the piece to heart, and in some accounts, believed he was writing the Requiem for himself.  When I think of how beautifully worked out this short piece is, and I look at the brevity of the text, I'm struck at the fact Mozart did not simply take the easy way out and dash off a short, cliche piece to satisfy a commission.  Mozart was jam-packed with obligations at the time, but it is clear he gave this work his all, and what does exist from what he finished is nothing short of masterful...

Mozart Requiem... Tuba Mirum

The Mozart Requiem contains many beautiful movements of music.  The "Tuba Mirum" is one of those pieces.  The opening trombone solo is unexpected since Mozart rarely opened any piece with solo brass.  Even the use of trombones themselves is rare for Mozart, who never used them in any of his symphonies or concertos.  Trombones have for years been associated with liturgical music, and Mozart once again utilized them for a liturgical work.

This is a wonderful piece that utilizes all the solo voices with absolute mastery.  Mozart wrote his music from the "inside out," meaning he wrote the voice parts first, the "fleshed out" the rest.  This is what Mozart completed in its entirety for the most part for the movements of the Requiem he did complete.  So... we can  be confident the gorgeous choral and solo voice writing is authentic Mozart. 

Mozart Requiem... Introit

The Introit of the Mozart Requiem is one of the most moving, beautifully and subtly scored pieces Mozart wrote in my opinion.  The version recorded for the film "Amadeus," wonderfully underscoring the sombre departure of the messenger in black who commissioned the Requiem, is haunting.  The tempo in this version is more slow than another recording of the Requiem by the same conductor and orchestra, namely, The Academy of St. Martin-in-the Fields with Neville Marriner conducting. 

The slower tempo works well by itself, without the following "Requiem Aternam," as in the "Amadeus" soundtrack.  But when played with the "Requiem Aternam," it works better at a somewhat faster tempo otherwise the "Requiem" part when the chorus comes in would drag.  I like the slower tempo for the Introit, but I also like a somewhat quicker tempo for the "Requiem Aternam."   

Notice during the "Introit" the wonderful use of bassoon and the way the basset horn sneaks in (actually played by clarinet).  The absense of high winds keeps the tone sombre and poignant.  It is wonderful how Mozart uses the bassoons and basset horns to carry the melodic material, with the strings only accompanying them beautifully...

Mozart Requiem... Benedictus

As I listen this morning to the music playing in my head, I am hearing the "Benedictus" of the Mozart Requiem for some reason.  I have for a long time suspected this part of the Requiem was authentic Mozart, although I have read is was likely written by Sussmayr.  I have absolutely nothing to base this belief on - I have no special access to autograph Mozart Requiem sketches or the like.  Just a hunch. 

It is a beautiful piece, featuring the solo voices.  The scoring and melodic material seem so Mozartian, it is hard for me to believe anybody but Mozart was the author of this material.  It is known that Sussmayr was a close pupil of Mozart's and knew his compositional techniques.  Perhaps it was Sussmayr who wrote this.  It is one of the many great mysteries surrounding the Mozart Requiem we may never have the answers to. 

Mozart Requiem... Mozart's Dark Side... And Light

The Mozart Requiem is quite remarkable for a number of resons even as a noble torso and not a fully completed work.  It has sometimes been said that Mozart's music is too sunny, sometimes superficial, and without depth.  I could argue for hours against these arguments, but I will keep it short. 

The Mozart Requiem, while quite dark, set in the primary key of D minor and lacking in high winds...  scored for Bassett Horns, (a kind of lower range Clarinet), Bassoons and Trombones along with organ, trumpets, timpani, and strings, there is much light in this otherwise darker piece.  Still, this is not the "superficial light" style of music Mozart is sometimes accused of writing.  When I think of light in this piece, I think of the "Recordare."  This is an immensely beautiful, lyrical setting of the voice of a soul hoping God will remember them before the day of the accursed.  It is a sincere expression of Mozart's faith. 

Of course, there is much that is dark in the Requiem... the sombre opening "Introit," the fiery "Dies Irae," and the "Confutatis."  The wide expression of emotion and passion was embraced by the romantic era composers, who tended to prefer Mozart's "darker" compositions such as his C Minor and D Minor Piano Concertos.