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Requiem K. 626
One of the finest works in choral literature, Mozart’s Requiem is scored for soloists, choir, and a small classical orchestra. At the time of Mozart's death in 1791 he had only completed the opening movement. The following Kyrie (a double fugue), and most of the Sequence (from Dies irae to Confutatis), is complete only in the vocal parts and the continuo (the figured organ bass), though occasionally some of the prominent orchestral parts have been briefly indicated, such as the violin part of the Confutatis and the musical bridges in the Recordare. The last movement of the Sequence, the Lacrimosa, breaks off after only eight bars and was unfinished. The following two movements of the Offertorium were again partially done – the Domine Jesu Christe in the vocal parts and continuo (up until the fugue, which contains some indications of the violin part) and the Hostias in the vocal parts only.
Mozart had been commissioned anonymously to write the Requiem (by intermediaries acting for the eccentric Count von Walsegg-Stuppach) and received half of the payment in advance, so his widow Constanze was keen for the incomplete work to be finished. Joseph von Eybler was one of the first composers to be asked to complete the score, and had worked on the movements from the Dies irae up until the Lacrimosa. 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. Following this work, he felt unable to complete the remainder, and gave the manuscript back to Constanze Mozart.
The task was then given to another junior composer, Franz Xaver Süssmayr, who borrowed some of Eybler's work in making his completion. Süssmayr added his own orchestration to the movements from the Dies irae onward (the Kyrie was orchestrated before either Süssmayr or Eybler began their work), completed the Lacrimosa, and added several new movements which a Requiem would normally comprise: Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei. He then added a final section, Lux aeterna, by adapting the opening two movements which Mozart had written to the different words which finish the Requiem mass, which according to both Süssmayr and Mozart’s wife was done according to Mozart’s directions. Whether or not that is true, some people consider it unlikely that Mozart would have repeated the opening two sections if he had survived to finish the work completely. However, the fact that the work ends with a recapitulation of the first movement creates a work which, overall, displays characteristics of sonata form, which may help to authenticate the idea for the repetition of the first movement as the final movement. As has often been stated, Mozart was not the only composer to do this, and many requiems written before his repeat the first movement as the last. (In regular masses a similar practice existed where the last movement, the Agnus Dei, was indicated only by the words ut Kyrie, or, as the Kyrie.)
There is some possibility other composers may have helped Süssmayr, or that he might have discovered sketches by Mozart amongst the papers for the Requiem. The elder composer Maximilian Stadler is suspected of having completed the orchestration of the Domine Jesu Christe for Süssmayr. The Agnus Dei is also suspected by some scholars to have been based on instruction or sketches from Mozart because of its similarity to a section from the Gloria of a previous Mass (K. 220) by Mozart.
The completed score, initially by Mozart but largely finished by Süssmayr, was then dispatched to Count Walsegg, complete with a counterfeited signature of Mozart, and dated 1792. The various complete and incomplete manuscripts eventually turned up in the 19th century, but many of the figures involved did not leave unambiguous statements on record as to how they were involved in the affair.
Despite the controversy over how much of the music is actually Mozart’s, the quality of the music itself has overridden many concerns – particularly the opening 7 bars for orchestra alone, the powerful and terrifying Dies irae, the stark contrast between pure power and sublime harmony in the Confutatis, and the speed and wonder emoted by the Kyrie. It remains one of the most significant works in the repertoire, and the source of much wonderment and inspiration for musicians, musicologists and audiences alike.
Mozart: Requiem K. 626
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