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Mozart’s “Requiem Mass in D Minor”. By Emma Clinton. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a brilliant composer, one of the best the world has ever seen. He wrote many incredible arrangements, but one of his finest and most memorable was the Requiem Mass.
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Mozart’s “Requiem Mass in D Minor” By Emma Clinton
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a brilliant composer, one of the best the world has ever seen. He wrote many incredible arrangements, but one of his finest and most memorable was the Requiem Mass.
The Requiem Mass, a choral and orchestral arrangement, was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1791 in Vienna, Austria. The composition was left unfinished, due to the death of Mozart on December 5th of the same year.
Count Franz von Walsegg commissioned Mozart to compose the Requiem Mass to commmemorate the 14th anniversary of the Count’s wife’s death.
Count Franz von Walsegg was a great lover of music, but he was an amateur musician. He wished Mozart to compose the Requiem Mass so he could pass it off as his own composition. The Count had been paying composers to write music he could pass off as his own for years.
In July of 1791, the Count sent a messenger to Mozart, offering him a deal. If Mozart could complete the compostion within three months, he would receive 60 ducats, 30 of which would be payed up front. Mozart agreed.
And so it began. Mozart started writing the Requiem Mass, and worked steadily until Dominico Guardasoni, an impresario, offered him the chance to compose a new opera for 200 ducats. Mozart couldn’t refuse the offer, and so he began to focus his attention on the opera instead of the Requiem.
On August 25, Mozart left for Prague for the coronation of Leopold II, for which his hastily concocted opera was composed. Upon his return, the same messenger of Walsegg’s that had approached him before reminded him that the deadline for the Requiem Mass had passed. It is supposed that the deadline was extended.
Mozart worked in spurts on the Requiem, his mind on other compositions such as “The Magic Flute”, which he had been working on before he was approached by Walsegg’s messenger.
In October, Mozart and his wife Constanze took a vacation to the Prater in Vienna. It was there that Mozart admitted that he was often thinking of his own death, and starting to believe that perhaps he was composing the Requiem for himself.
Mozart died on December 5th, 1971 of rheumatic fever, never having finished the Requiem. He had completed the scores for the orchestra and chorus of the opening movement, but the other movements were only partially completed, and some hardly begun.
After Mozart’s death, his widow, Constanze, hastened to find another composer to finish the work so she could collect the rest of the payment. Mozart’s pupil, Franz Xaver Sussmayr, was finally recruited, and finished the Requiem compostition in March, 1792.
The completed manuscript of the Requiem Mass was given to Walsegg, but though he tried, he was unable to pass the work off as his own. The Requiem was played at the Count’s wife’s 14th anniversary funeral as planned.
The Requiem is composed of 14 separate movements. • Requiem • Aeternam (Introit) • Kyrie Eleison • Lacrimosa • Dies Irae • Domine Jesu (Offertorium) • Sanctus • Benedictus • Pie Jesu • Agnus Dei • Lux Aeternum • Libera Me • In Paradisum
The Requiem Mass is scored for the following: • 2 basset horns • 2 bassoons • 2 trumpets • 3 trombones (alto, tenor, bass) • 2 timpani drums • Violins • Viola • Cello • Double bass • Organ or harpsichord • Vocals for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass
Citations • "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart." Mozart. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Jan. 2014. • Service, Tom. "Mozart's Requiem: The Mysteries Continue Ö." Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 16 Dec. 2011. Web. 05 Jan. 2014. • "Requiem (Mozart)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 31 Dec. 2013. Web. 05 Jan. 2014. • DeWitt, William. "Mozart's Requiem." Mozart's Requiem. N.p., 2009. Web. 05 Jan. 2014.
