Mozart’s requiem for himself ... and for us

A requiem, of course, is music for a religious ceremony intended to honor the memory of, and make a plea for, those who have passed away. In early July of 1791, an ‘unknown, gray stranger’ showed up at Mozart’s door, requesting an anonymous commission to compose a Requiem Mass—on the understanding that Mozart not seek to learn the identity of his patron. Mozart accepted, and the stranger paid for the Requiem in full.

Mozart’s study of traditions of funeral music likely played a role in the Requiem’s composition, as well as his recent affinity for Baroque counterpoint. Mozart begins in the key of D minor, the same key used to conjure the terrifying sounds in his opera Don Giovanni, as the titular character is carried by demons down into Hell.

In ill health and near death, Mozart completed the Requiem and Kyrie movements, and managed to sketch the voice parts and bass lines for the Dies irae through to the Hostias. But before he could complete the work, Mozart died on December 5, 1791, at the age of 35. His widow Constanze feared that if she handed over an incomplete work, the mystery patron would demand his money back. She asked Joseph Eybler to finish the score, but after orchestrating the music following the Kyrie, Eybler handed it over to Mozart‘s pupil Franz Xaver Süssmayer. 

Süssmayer completed the work, copying the entire completed score in his own hand. There is to this day controversy over who actually composed what in the remaining sections of the Requiem, and how much—or how little—Mozart dictated the notes or outlines of those movements.

The unkown patron was Anton Leitgeb, son of the mayor of Vienna and the valet of Count Franz von Walsegg-Stuppach. Leitgeb had a well-earned reputation for promoting other people’s music as his own. The Count was hoping to use Mozart’s Requiem to commemorate his late wife, Anna. It took a decade before Constanze was able to persuade Walsegg to acknowledge Mozart as the Requiem’s true composer. Well, at least part of it, anyway.

The end result is a powerful exploration of grief and mortality that contains some of Mozart’s darkest music. It is one of the most famous choral works in the classical repertoire—a masterpiece that will stir your emotions.

Musicians

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• All in the Familie: JS Bach & Sons Chamber Music
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• Mozart at the Keyboard: The Virtuoso Genius
• Mozart Requiem