Requiem (Mozart)
Count Franz von Walsegg commissioned a Requiem Mass in Vienna during late 1791. He sent an anonymous messenger to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with the request. The Count intended to pass the finished work off as his own composition, a practice he had used for other pieces. Mozart received only half of the agreed payment upfront before he died on the 5th of December 1791. This left his widow Constanze responsible for collecting the final sum from the commission.
Joseph Eybler began working on the score after Mozart's death but felt unable to finish it. He added orchestration to movements from the Kyrie up until the Lacrymosa while mimicking Mozart's handwriting. Franz Xaver Süssmayr then took over the task and completed the remaining movements. Süssmayr wrote the Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei himself. He also adapted the opening two movements into the final section known as Lux aeterna. The completed score bore a counterfeited signature of Mozart and was dated 1792 when delivered to Walsegg.
The Introitus begins with a seven-measure instrumental introduction featuring woodwinds presenting the principal theme in imitative counterpoint. This theme is modeled after Handel's The ways of Zion do mourn. The Kyrie follows without pause as a double fugue on a cruciform melody connecting two notes of the main theme. The Sequentia contains six sections including the Dies irae which opens with tremolo strings and syncopated figures. The Tuba mirum movement features a solo tenor trombone playing three notes unaccompanied before the bass soloist enters. The Recordare spans 130 measures making it the work's longest movement with a form similar to sonata structure.
Constanze Mozart created many stories surrounding the composition of the Requiem to protect her financial interests. She claimed that Mozart believed he was writing the piece for his own funeral while suffering from painful swelling and high fever. Her accounts suggested that a mysterious messenger had poisoned him, though no evidence supports this claim. These narratives helped promote the work as a complete masterpiece by Mozart alone. The myths also implicated Mozart's colleague Antonio Salieri in both the commission and the composer's death through later retellings like Peter Shaffer's play Amadeus.
Friedrich Rochlitz published anecdotes in 1798 claiming Mozart fainted multiple times while working on the score. He stated that Mozart took a break to visit the Prater with his wife yet records show Constanze was away during June and July 1791. Franz Xaver Niemetschek wrote another biography in 1808 stating the messenger appeared shortly before Emperor Leopold II's coronation. This account claims Constanze took the score away from Wolfgang for a significant duration which contradicts other letters. Georg Nikolaus von Nissen compiled an interview with Constanze after his death in 1826 that lacks information following Mozart's return from Prague.
Mozart esteemed Handel and rearranged Messiah in 1789 under Baron Gottfried van Swieten's commission. The Kyrie is based on the chorus from Handel's Messiah since the subject of the fugato shares the same melody with slight variations. Michael Haydn's Requiem in C minor influenced the Introitus as Mozart played viola at its first three performances in January 1772. The theme for Mozart's Quam olim Abrahae fugue quotes directly from Haydn's Offertorium. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier Book 2 also provided material for the four-note theme found throughout the work.
Since the 1970s composers and musicologists have attempted alternative completions dissatisfied with the traditional Süssmayr version. An Amen Fugue sketch discovered in the 1960s suggests it may belong to the Requiem conclusion after the Lacrymosa. H. C. Robbins Landon argued this fragment was intended for a separate unfinished mass instead. The autograph manuscript suffered damage when someone tore off the bottom right corner during the 1958 World's Fair in Brussels. Karl Klindworth created piano solo arrangements around 1900 while Franz Liszt composed his own version circa 1865 that departed significantly in fidelity.
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Common questions
Who commissioned the Requiem Mass from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1791?
Count Franz von Walsegg commissioned a Requiem Mass in Vienna during late 1791. He sent an anonymous messenger to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with the request.
When did Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart die and who completed his unfinished Requiem score?
Mozart died on the 5th of December 1791 after receiving only half of the agreed payment upfront. Joseph Eybler began working on the score but Franz Xaver Süssmayr then took over the task and completed the remaining movements including the Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei.
What musical influences shaped the composition of the Requiem by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart?
The Introitus theme is modeled after Handel's The ways of Zion do mourn while Michael Haydn's Requiem in C minor influenced the Introitus as Mozart played viola at its first three performances in January 1772. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier Book 2 also provided material for the four-note theme found throughout the work.
Why did Constanze Mozart create stories about the death of her husband Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart?
Constanze Mozart created many stories surrounding the composition of the Requiem to protect her financial interests. Her accounts suggested that a mysterious messenger had poisoned him though no evidence supports this claim.
How was the final version of the Requiem Mass delivered to Count Franz von Walsegg in 1792?
The completed score bore a counterfeited signature of Mozart and was dated 1792 when delivered to Walsegg. This version included adaptations by Franz Xaver Süssmayr who wrote the Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei himself.