Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus: Requiem in D Minor, K “Dies Irae” from favourably received among these is one by American musicologist Robert D. Levin.
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Duration 60 minutes Composer Time Period Comp. Retrieved from " http: Authorship Note Mozart's Requiem was unfinished at the time of his death. Libera me Domine by Seyfried was written as a continuation of the Requiem. Contents 1 Performances 1. Live recording from the Salzburg Festival. First issuing was in by Archipel. However, the copyright on the sound recording had already expired at this time; sound recordings generally enjoy 50 years from publication in Canada and the EU, BUT this only applies if 50 years have not already passed since the creation of the work. As this recording was already over 50 years old at the time of first publication, it is in the public domain.
Javascript is required for this feature. Performer Pages Wiener Philharmoniker orchestra. Performer Pages Papalin Recorder, Chorus. These file s are part of the Werner Icking Music Collection. Contains the complete autograph fragments in Mozart's handwriting with some ms additions by other composers, among them Eybler. Colour scans are at ca. Only what Mozart himself wrote, without additions by other hands. The Kyrie follows without pause attacca. It is a double fugue also on a Handelian theme: The first three measures of the altos and basses are shown below. The contrapuntal motifs of the theme of this fugue include variations on the two themes of the Introit.
At first, upward diatonic series of sixteenth-notes are replaced by chromatic series, which has the effect of augmenting the intensity.
Mozart: Requiem in D minor, K626
This passage shows itself to be a bit demanding in the upper voices, particularly for the soprano voice. A final portion in a slower Adagio tempo ends on an "empty" fifth, a construction which had during the classical period become archaic, lending the piece an ancient air.
The Dies irae opens without introduction but instead with a show of complete orchestral and choral might. The choir is reinforced with an orchestral tremolo. Immediately after, the first violins play more chromatic scales of sixteenth-notes until the reprise of the choral passage. A passage with great effect repeats itself three times: Two measures later, the bass soloist enters, imitating the same theme. The final quarter notes of the bass soloist herald the arrival of the tenor, followed by the alto and soprano in dramatic fashion.
On the text Cum vix justus sit securus "When only barely may the just one be secure" , there is a switch to a homophonic segment sung by the quartet at the same time, articulating, without accompaniment, the cum and vix on the "strong" 1st and 3rd , then on the "weak" 2nd and 4th beats, with the violins and continuo responding each time; this "interruption" which one may interpret as the interruption preceding the Last Judgment is heard sotto voce , forte and then piano to bring the movement finally into a crescendo into a perfect cadence.
A descending melody composed of dotted notes is played by the orchestra to announce the Rex tremendae majestatis "King of tremendous majesty", i. For a surprising effect, the Rex syllables of the choir fall on the second beats of the measures, even though this is the "weak" beat. The choir then adopts the dotted rhythm of the orchestra, forming what Wolff calls baroque music 's form of " topos of the homage to the sovereign" [1] , or, more simply put, that this musical style is a standard form of salute to royalty, or, in this case, divinity.
This movement consists of only 22 measures, but this short stretch is rich in variation: At measures, the Recordare is the work's longest movement, as well as the first in triple meter 3 4 ; the movement is a setting of no fewer than seven stanzas of the Dies irae. The form of this piece is somewhat similar to sonata form , with an exposition around two themes mm.
In the first 13 measures, the basset horns are the first the present the first theme, enriched by a magnificent counterpoint by cellos in descending scales that are reprised throughout the movement. This counterpoint of the first theme prolongs the orchestral introduction with chords, recalling the beginning of the work and its rhythmic and melodic shiftings the first basset horn begins a measure after the second but a tone higher, the first violins are likewise in sync with the second violins but a quarter note shifted, etc.
The introduction is followed by the vocal soloists; their first theme is sung by the alto and bass from m.
Each time, the theme concludes with a hemiola mm. The second theme arrives on Ne me perdas , in which the accompaniment contrasts with that of the first theme. Instead of descending scales, the accompaniment is limited to repeated chords. This exposition concludes with four orchestral measures based on the counter-melody of the first theme mm. The development of these two themes begins in m.
After two orchestral bars mm. Then, the second theme is reused on ante diem rationis ; after the four measures of orchestra from 68 to 71, the first theme is developed alone. The recapitulation intervenes in m. The initial structure reproduces itself with the first theme on the text Preces meae and then in m. The second theme reappears one final time on m. The final measures of the movement recede to simple orchestral descending contrapuntal scales. The Confutatis begins with a rhythmic and dynamic sequence of strong contrasts and surprising harmonic turns.
Accompanied by the basso continuo , the male choristers burst into a forte vision of the infernal, on a dotted rhythm. The accompaniment then ceases alongside the male voices, and the female voices enter softly and sotto voce , singing Voca me cum benedictis "Call upon me with the blessed" with an arpeggiated accompaniment in strings.
This spectacular descent from the opening key is repeated, now modulating to the key of F major. A final seventh chord carries us to the Lacrimosa. The chords begin piano on a rocking rhythm in 12 8 , intercut with quarter rests, which will be reprised by the choir after two measures, on Lacrimosa dies illa "This tearful day". Then, after two measures, the sopranos begin a diatonic progression, in disjointed eighth-notes on the text resurget "will be reborn" , then legato and chromatic on a powerful crescendo.
The choir is forte by m. Discovery of a fragmentary Amen fugue in Mozart's hand has led to speculation that it may have been intended for the Requiem. Indeed, many modern completions such as Levin's complete Mozart's fragment. The first movement of the Offertorium, the Domine Jesu, begins on a piano theme consisting of an ascending progression on a G minor triad. The four soloists then enter a canon on Sed signifer sanctus Michael , switching between minor in ascent and major in descent. Between these thematic passages are forte phrases where the choir enters, often in unison and dotted rhythm, such as on Rex gloriae "King of glory" or de ore leonis "[Deliver them] from the mouth of the lion".
Two choral fugues follow, on ne absorbeat eas tartarus, ne cadant in obscurum "may Tartarus not absorb them, nor may they fall into darkness and Quam olim Abrahae promisisti et semini eius "What once to Abraham you promised and to his seed". The movement concludes on a homophonic reprise of Quam olim Abrahae et semini eius in G major. An overtaking chromatic melody on Fac eas, Domine, de morte transire ad vitam "Make them, Lord, from death to transit to life" finally carries the movement into D major, when it enters into another rendition of the Quam olim Abrahae promisisti et semini eius fugue.
The words "Quam olim da capo" are likely to have been the last Mozart wrote; this portion of the manuscript has been missing since it was stolen at World's Fair in Brussels by a person whose identity remains unknown. D major, generally used for the entry of trumpets in the Baroque era. After a succinct glorification of the Lord follows a short fugue in 3 4 on Hosanna in excelsis "Glory [to God] in the highest" , noted for its syncopated rhythm, and for its motivic similarity to the Quam olim Abrahae fugue.
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The Sanctus's ending on a D major cadence necessitates a mediant jump to this new key. The Benedictus is constructed on three types of phrases: The word benedictus is held, which stands in opposition with the B phrase, which is first seen at m. The phrase develops and rebounds at m. The rest of the movement consists of variations on this writing. Phrase B follows at m.
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This carries the movement to a new Mozartian cadence in mm. Homophony dominates the Agnus Dei. At the time of Mozart's death on December 5 , only the first two movements, Requiem aeternam and Kyrie, were completed in all of the orchestral and vocal parts. The Sequence and Offertorium were completed in skeleton, with the exception of the Lacrymosa, which breaks off after the first eight bars. The vocal parts and continuo were fully notated.
Occasionally, some of the prominent orchestral parts were briefly indicated, such as the first violin part of the Rex tremendae and Confutatis, the musical bridges in the Recordare, and the trombone solos of the Tuba Mirum. What remained to be completed for these sections were mostly accompanimental figures, inner harmonies, and orchestral doublings to the vocal parts. The eccentric count Franz von Walsegg commissioned the Requiem from Mozart anonymously through intermediaries.
The count, an amateur chamber musician who routinely commissioned works by composers and passed them off as his own, [2] [3] wanted a Requiem Mass he could claim he composed to memorialize the recent passing of his wife. Mozart received only half of the payment in advance, so upon his death his widow Constanze was keen to have the work completed secretly by someone else, submit it to the count as having been completed by Mozart and collect the final payment. In addition, a striking similarity between the openings of the Domine Jesu Christe movements in the requiems of the two composers suggests that Eybler at least looked at later sections.
Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei. Some people [ who? The Agnus Dei is suspected by some scholars [5] to have been based on instruction or sketches from Mozart because of its similarity to a section from the Gloria of a previous mass Sparrow Mass , K. Others have pointed out that in the beginning of the Agnus Dei, the choral bass quotes the main theme from the Introitus.
Another controversy is the suggestion originating from a letter written by Constanze that Mozart left explicit instructions for the completion of the Requiem on "a few scraps of paper with music on them The various complete and incomplete manuscripts eventually turned up in the 19th century, but many of the figures involved left ambiguous statements on record as to how they were involved in the affair. This acceptance is quite strong, even when alternative completions provide logical and compelling solutions for the work. The confusion surrounding the circumstances of the Requiem's composition was created in a large part by Mozart's wife, Constanze.
Once she received the commission, she needed to carefully promote the work as Mozart's so that she could continue to receive revenue from the work's publication and performance.
During this phase of the Requiem's history, it was still important that the public accept that Mozart wrote the whole piece, as it would fetch larger sums from publishers and the public if it were completely by Mozart. It is Constanze's efforts that created the flurry of half-truths and myths almost instantly after Mozart's death. According to Constanze, Mozart declared that he was composing the Requiem for himself and that he had been poisoned. His symptoms worsened, and he began to complain about the painful swelling of his body and high fever.
Nevertheless, Mozart continued his work on the Requiem, and even on the last day of his life, he was explaining to his assistant how he intended to finish the Requiem. With multiple levels of deception surrounding the Requiem's completion, a natural outcome is the mythologizing which subsequently occurred. One series of myths surrounding the Requiem involves the role Antonio Salieri played in the commissioning and completion of the Requiem and in Mozart's death generally. While the most recent retelling of this myth is Peter Shaffer 's play Amadeus and the movie made from it, it is important to note that the source of misinformation was actually a 19th-century play by Alexander Pushkin , Mozart and Salieri , which was turned into an opera by Rimsky-Korsakov and subsequently used as the framework for Amadeus.
Requiem (Mozart) - Wikipedia
Source materials written soon after Mozart's death contain serious discrepancies, which leave a level of subjectivity when assembling the "facts" about Mozart's composition of the Requiem. For example, at least three of the conflicting sources, all dated within two decades following Mozart's death, cite Constanze as their primary source of interview information. In , Friedrich Rochlitz , a German biographical author and amateur composer, published a set of Mozart anecdotes that he claimed to have collected during his meeting with Constanze in The most highly disputed of these claims is the last one, the chronology of this setting.
According to Rochlitz, the messenger arrives quite some time before the departure of Leopold for the coronation, yet there is a record of his departure occurring in mid-July However, as Constanze was in Baden during all of June to mid-July, she would not have been present for the commission or the drive they were said to have taken together. La clemenza di Tito was commissioned by mid-July. Also in , Constanze is noted to have given another interview to Franz Xaver Niemetschek , [12] another biographer looking to publish a compendium of Mozart's life.
He published his biography in , containing a number of claims about Mozart's receipt of the Requiem commission:. This account, too, has fallen under scrutiny and criticism of its accuracy. According to letters, Constanze most certainly knew the name of the commissioner by the time this interview was released in However, the most highly accepted text attributed to Constanze is the interview to her second husband, Georg Nikolaus von Nissen.
The Nissen publication lacks information following Mozart's return from Prague. This work likely influenced the composition of Mozart's Requiem; the Kyrie is based on the " And with His stripes we are healed " chorus from Handel's Messiah , since the subject of the fugato is the same with only slight variations by adding ornaments on melismata. Another influence was Michael Haydn 's Requiem in C minor which he and his father heard at the first three performances in January