Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27.I.1756 – 5.XII.1791) - Requiem in D minor for Soloists, Chorus & Orchestra, K. 626 (Missa defunctorum), was composed in Vienna in 1791 and left Unfinished at the composer's death on December 5. A completion dated 1792 by Franz Xaver Süssmayr was delivered to Count Franz von Walsegg, who had anonymously commissioned the piece for a Requiem Mass to commemorate the February 14 anniversary of his wife's death.
Parts/Movements:
00:00 I. Introitus | Requiem aeternam
05:24 II. Kyrie
08:03 III. Sequentia | Dies Irae
09:57 III. Sequentia | Tuba mirum
13:50 III. Sequentia | Rex tremendae majestis
16:11 III. Sequentia | Recordare, Jesus pie
21:22 III. Sequentia | Confutatis maledictis
23:45 III. Sequentia | Lacrimosa dies illa
26:55 IV. Offertorium | Domine Jesu Christe
30:45 IV. Offertorium | Hostias et preces
35:18 V. Sanctus | Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth
37:10 V. Sanctus | Benedictus
42:38 VI. Agnus Dei
46:18 VII. Communio | Lux Aeterna
Live Performance http://youtu.be/ia8ceqIDSJw?t=54s
Anna Tomowa-Sintow, soprano; Helga Müller-Molinari, contralto; Vinson Cole, tenor, Paata Burchuladze, bass. Wiener Singverein, Helmuth Froschauer, Chorus Master.
Wiener Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan.
Wien, Musikverein, Grosser Saal, May, 1986.
Karajan Gold Collection. Deutsche Grammophon, 1987.
E.T.A. Hoffmann once wrote that "[Mozart's] Requiem is the sublimest achievement that the modern period has contributed to the church." Mozart's deathbed composition held a high appeal for the nineteenth century; in the supposedly more rational twentieth, it ascended to truly iconic status. It did so despite fundamental mysteries of its composition and even its authenticity, mysteries still unsolved in the twenty-first century. Something in the music's gravitas and subtlety touches each successive generation.
A tangled skein of myths and fairy tales imagine the deathbed genius collapsing upon his manuscript, but many facts about the piece are clear. The Requiem K. 626 is known to have been commissioned by a third party, albeit one who wanted his identity to be kept a secret. The Count Walsegg commissioned a Requiem mass from Mozart via a clerk (the "Grey Messenger" of Requiem-mythology). Mozart accepted the job for his unknown patron, having desired to compose some "higher form of church music" (his Ave verum corpus reflects the same wish). For Mozart, the summer of 1791 was a particularly productive time. Not until the Autumn was he able to make a start on the Requiem. He spent the month of October sketching out large sections of it, some of which he also instrumented. But then he fell gravely ill and was unable to complete the work. Since Count Walsegg, was unwilling to pay for an unfinished piece, Constanze did everything in her power to ensure that the score was completed and approached not only her late husband’s pupil, Franz Xaver Süssmayr, but also a number of other composers with whom Mozart had been friendly. All of them were asked to undertake the by no means straightforward task of completing the score. The Count eventually received a complete Requiem, which he tried to pass off as his own composition; the bulk of this copy derives from the hand of Franz Süssmayr. Scholars have diligently attempted to distinguish Mozart's work from Süssmayr's mishandling of his intentions. In the 20th century, too, there were several attempts to produce a performing version that was sensitive to the surviving score.
Mozart's Requiem contains five sections, each capped by a fugue: Requiem/Kyrie, Sequence ("Dies Irae"), Offertory, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei. Throughout, choral writing drives Mozart's music; even the four soloists rarely sing alone. The darkly colored orchestra supports the choir with often vivid motives. This pictorial aspect is most evident in the Sequence: "Tuba mirum" (solo trombone), "Rex tremendae" (regal dotted-rhythms), "Confutatis" (fiery accompaniment), and "Lachrymosa" (sighing strings). Not only do individual movements display an extraordinary level of motivic unity, Mozart carefully creates motivic relationships across the entire Requiem. The very first melody sung by the basses ("Requiem aeternam"), for instance, is repeated at the very end and also echoes throughout the work; the opening melody of "Dies irae" translates into major mode to open the "Sanctus." Mozart is never afraid, however, of acknowledging his debt to earlier traditions of church music. His fugues deliberately reference Bach, and in the first movement alone he quotes from Michael Haydn's Requiem, Handel's funeral anthem for Queen Caroline, Messiah, and the Gregorian chant known as the "Pilgrim's Tone."
