Written 15 years earlier, the Requiem in D minor, K 626, is one of the most mysterious and pivotal works of the Western musical tradition. The Mass for the Dead that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) composed during the last weeks of his life is shrouded in an aura of mystery because of not only its musical power, but also the circumstances of its origin, which still fascinate music historians, performers, and audiences. The Requiem is also a synthesis of the traditions of the Baroque, the formal balance of Classicism, Mozart’s powerful sense of drama, and depth of personal, almost existential expression.
The stimulus for the work’s creation was an anonymous commission that the Lower Austrian nobleman Count Franz von Walsegg sent to Mozart by a messenger. It turned out later that the count had made several such commissions and then presented the compositions as his own. This occurred in the summer of 1791, around when Mozart was intensively engaged in writing The Magic Flute and his last completed opera, La clemenza di Tito. At the time, he was suffering from health problems caused by overwork, and composing the Requiem had become an artistic and person challenge for him. According to preserved accounts, he saw the commission as a premonition of his own death. Although romantic myths about the genius’s final composition have reinforced this interpretation, it does have a basis in reality: Mozart did, in fact, die (probably of an infectious disease easily curable today by antibiotics) before he was able to finish the Requiem.
Debate has long raged over how much of the Requiem come directly from Mozart and what was added after his death. Mozart’s preserved manuscripts show that he finished the opening Introitus: Requiem aeternam, completely orchestrated and ready for performance. He also wrote down the vocal lines and sketched the basso continuo for the Kyrie, Sequentia (but the Lacrimosa ends after eight bars), and Offertorium. Those movements remained in the form of drafts with their harmony and structure more or less elaborated. After Mozart’s death on 5 December 1791, the composer’s widow Constanze entrusted his pupil Franz Xaver Süssmayr with completion of the work. Süssmayr had at his disposal not only fragments, but also instructions from another pupil, Joseph Eybler, who had briefly attempted to work on the commission. Süssmayr added orchestration, finished the partially written passages of the Lacrimosa, and composed the entire movements of the Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei. He also prepared the concluding Communio, which largely recapitulates the opening theme of the Requiem aeternam, thereby completing a musical and symbolic arch.
Although Süssmayr’s version became canonical and still remains the most frequently performed completion, its authenticity and quality are a matter of debate. Musicologists point out divergences in composition style, especially of harmony and counterpoint, between Mozart’s own passages and the additions of his pupil. For example, the contrapuntal writing of the Sanctus makes a monumental but rather simplified impression, while the style of the Benedictus, with its tender lyricism and dialogue between the soloists and orchestra, is more reminiscent of Mozart. Interestingly, Süssmayr signed the score “di W. A. Mozart” so the work could be regarded as authentic, and Constanze received payment of the remainder of the fee.
Musically, the Requiem is an extraordinary synthesis of old and new styles. Here, Mozart follows the traditions of sacred music of the late Baroque and especially the examples of Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel, whose music he had studied intensively. Influence from the Baroque appears in fugal polyphony (e.g. in the Kyrie and Quam olim Abrahae), in the dramatic musical setting, and in the contrasting conceptions of the roles of the soloists, choir, and orchestra. At the same time, however, the composition also bears all of the hallmarks of High Classicism: formal balance, melodic clarity, and depth of emotional expression without exaggerated pathos. Dark colours predominate in the orchestra—basset horns and trombones give the tonal colouring a peculiar shade of melancholy, and the absence of flutes and clarinets adds to the funereal character.
Each movement of the Requiem has an individual expressive character. The majestic, fate-laden chorus of the opening Introitus immediately draws us into a world of darkness and acceptance. The Kyrie is a brilliant double fugue with an energetic structure that contrasts with the humble text of the prayer. The Dies irae is a dramatic vision of Judgement Day, with sharp rhythms and tempestuous orchestral accents, while the Tuba mirum surprises us with a lyrical trombone solo in intimate conversation with the bass soloist. The Recordare, one of the most tender moments of the work, presents a dialogue between male and female voices to create a musical image of mercy and hope. Mozart wrote only the first eight bars of the unfinished Lacrimosa, which builds up gradually like a symbolic depiction of the composer departing this life. In the concluding Agnus Dei and Communio, the musical arch is completed by the return of the theme from the beginning. This reprise gives the Requiem internal unity and stability, as if death has been transformed into calm and eternity.
“My senses are confused, I have trouble gathering my strength, and I can’t rid myself of the image of that unknown person. I see him constantly, begging me, urging me, and impatiently demanding my work. I’m constantly working because work tires me less than resting. Incidentally, I’m no longer afraid. I feel and recognise that my hour has struck. I am near death. The end will come before I will be allowed to rejoice over my talent. But life has been so beautiful. A lucky star was shining over my beginnings, but who can change his own fate? No one is the master of his own days, and one must submit to the will of Providence. I end here because my funeral song must not remain unfinished.” (Mozart’s letter to Lorenzo da Ponte, Vienna, September 1791)
