The Requiem, K 626 (Mass in D minor) was the last composition of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He left it unfinished due to his untimely demise at the young age of 35, on December 5, 1791. Immediately after Mozart's death, efforts to complete the Requiem began.
Constanze Mozart contracted two composers to work on Requiem's completion:
- Joseph Eybler (1765-1846). He was a good musician who later became Hofkapellmeister. He orchestrated the "Dies irae" as the "Lacrimosa." Then he stopped working on it.
- Franz Süssmayr (1766-1803). The most contemporary performances of the Requiem include his supplements to Mozart's original composition.
The extent of Süssmayr's work has been debated through the years. Some of the issues raised include:
- Which manuscript did he pick up immediately after Mozart's death and apparently delivered?
- Which manuscript was supposedly paid for by Baron Jacobi on March 4, 1792, a quarter of a year after Mozart's death?
- Did he pay, as was agreed upon, only that part of the honorarium still outstanding after the payment that had been made directly to Mozart in the summer of 1791?
- Did the clarinetist Maximilian Stadler (who managed to extract "loans" from his "friend" Mozart, deeply in debt himself, and never pay them back) in his various statements about the origin of the Requiem tell the truth or, as generally assumed, lie?
Süssmayr was the closest among Mozart's friends and assistants. Mozart took him to Prague to work out the secco recitative for La Clemenza di Tito, for which he himself had no time. He knew Mozart's style better than anyone and was familiar with his way of composing. What perplexes some biographers is that in all of Süssmayr's numerous works, mostly operas, there is nothing that can compare with some of the passages he supposedly wrote to complete Mozart's Requiem.
Süssmayr's Work Integrated into Mozart's Requiem
Mozart certainly composed the first two parts of the Requiem – the Introitus and the Kyrie – as well as their instrumentation right down to the last detail.
All the music in the third part, the Sequence, with the exception of the last number, the "Lacrimosa," is also by Mozart. He had, however, notated only the vocal parts and the figured bass but not the individual instruments. Of the "Lacrimosa," the first 8 measures are by Mozart. Sussmayr composed the continuation from measure 9 and in addition, the instrumentation for the preceding numbers of the Sequence.
The Offertorium (with the two numbers "Domine Jesu Christe" and "Hostias") comes once more from the genius of Mozart. Süssmayr provided the orchestration.
Of the three following numbers – Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei – there is no evidence in Mozart's own handwriting. So these parts must be regarded as Süssmayr's compositions.
Süssmayr composed nothing for the closing Communio. Instead, he returned to the beginning of Mozart's work and used parts of the Introitus and the Kyrie, both composed completely by Mozart. He used it with the text of Communio's, "Lux aeterna luceat eis."
Requiem divided into 14 movements
(with the following structure)
I. Introitus: Requiem aeternam (Choir)
II. Kyrie eleison (Choir)
III. Sequenza:
- Dies irae (Choir)
- Tuba mirum (Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass Solo)
- Rex tremendae (Choir)
- Recordare, Jesu pie (Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass Solo)
- Confutatis (Choir)
- Lacrimosa (Choir)
IV. Offertorium:
- Domine Jesu (Choir with Solo Quartet)
- Versus: Hostias (Choir)
V. Sanctus:
- Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth (Choir)
VI. Benedictus (Solo Quartet then Choir)
VII. Agnus Dei (Choir)
VIII. Communio:
- Lux aeterna (Choir)
Related link
Suggested Recording
Mozart Requiem, Vienna State Opera Chorus (W. Pitz) and VPO (I. Kertesz), Decca
Mozart: Requiem (The Süssmayr Version and the Original Unfinished Version)
Sources:
Gutman, Robert W. Mozart: A Cultural Biography. London: Pimlico, 1999
Holmes, Edward, edited with additional notes by Christopher Hogwood. The Life of Mozart. London: The Folio Society, 1991
Pahlen, Kurt. The World of Oratorio. Oregon: Amadeus Press, 1990
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