Mozart Requiem Mass in D Minor XI - Agnus Dei

John Eliot Gardiner conducts the English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Choir. This performance was filmed at the Palau de la Musica Catalana, Barcelona in Dec. 1991.

A Requiem Mass in the Roman Catholic tradition is a service designed to pray for the souls of the departed. The parts of the liturgy that are meant to be sung are what constitute all Requiem Mass compositions, including Mozart's.

The structure is as follows:
1. Introit
2. Kyrie
3. Sequence: a. Dies irae b. Tuba mirum c. Rex tremendae d. Recordare e. Confutatis f. Lacrimosa
4. Offertory: a. Domine Jesu Christe b. Hostias
5. Sanctus
6. Benedictus
7. Agnus Dei
8. Lux Aeterna

Mozart died before finishing the Requiem Mass, and his wife Constanze gave the task of finishing the work to a pupil of Mozart's named Süssmayr. From the Sanctus onward, the Requiem is the creation of Süssmayr, though he did use portions of the Introit and Kyrie for the Lux Aeterna, as requested by Mozart and as per tradition.

Despite, or maybe partially because of, the controversy surrounding this Requiem Mass, it is widely regarded as Mozart's greatest masterpiece.

Latin Lyrics and English translation follow:

Category:

Music

Tags:

• mozart
• amadeus
• requiem
• mass
• minor
• agnus
• dei
• dies
• bach
• classical
• beethoven
• roman
• catholic
• confutatis
• lacrimosa

[asa1342]

I would travel thousands of miles to hear a mass like this.

[NJHanna]

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,

dona eis requiem.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,

dona eis requiem sempiternam.

[danielbream]

Davvero grazie! Bellissimi video.

[toogoodbw]

@rossyxan thanks for the background. I was aware of some of the back story. I know Constanza (That was Mrs. Mozart name right?) wanted the worked to be finished so she could get paid. I suppose Sussmayr got compensated to finish it.

[rossyxan]

@toogoodbw @toogoodbw This is an interesting link, it's the version using only what Mozart wrote, with no additional bits - look up mozart requiem verklaertenacht1899. :D

[rossyxan]

@toogoodbw The whole Sanctus, Benedictus and this movement were meant to have been written by Franz Xavier Sussmayr. Most scholars agree that Benedictus and Sanctus are Sussmayr (too many non-Mozartian idioms and style) but this movement is the only one likely to have been sketched/taught to Sussmayr by Mozart before he died, since there are so many Mozartian elements and no mistakes like the other Sussmayr parts.

[rossyxan]

@toogoodbw "At the time of Mozart's death on 5 December 1791, only the opening movement (Requiem aeternam) was completed in all of the orchestral and vocal parts. The following Kyrie and most of the sequence (from Dies Irae to Confutatis) were complete only in the vocal parts and the continuo (the figured organ bass), though occasionally some of the prominent orchestral parts were briefly indicated, such as the violin part of the Confutatis and the musical bridges in the Recordare."

[toogoodbw]

@rossyxan I am not familiar with what movements are allegedly composed by sussmayr, but I would bet the farm Mozart wrote the Introitus and the Kyrie. The Kyrie is extremely Mozart in style.

[42TheGamer]

@IbanezPlaya194 No, basses are way better

[IbanezPlaya194]

@moneyonthegrill hahaha i wrote that comment after a very exhausting rehersal, but i've come to love the fugue (tenors are the best tho)

[moneyonthegrill]

@IbanezPlaya194 umm yes i would since ive performed this professionally many times! and yes it is DIFFICULT!!! however i am a bass and i LOVE MY PARTS!!!

[rossyxan]

Out of all the parts that Sussmayr wrote, this one is the one most likely to be written by Mozart, there are no "un-mozartian" elements like in the other movements :p