Requiem (Mozart)

The Requiem in minor D Kv 626 is the last work of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791). Mozart did not finish this work because he died before his completion.

Some legends plane on this work. The recent studies showed that the Requiem was composed for the count Franz Walsegg-Stuppach who wanted to pay homage to his young wife deceased. Wanting to keep this discrete order, it dispatched an intermediary to treat with Mozart. The Compositeur created the major part of this confined to bed requiem because then very physically decreased. The December 4th 1791, it benefits from a momentary improvement of its state and friends interpret the parts already made up of the requiem. Its state worsens brutally in the evening of the 4 in spite of the presence of two of the best doctors of Vienna. He dies the December 5th around one hour of the morning. Constanze, the woman of Mozart, requires of Franz Xaver Süßmayr, a pupil of Mozart who had received the last indications of the Master, to finish the masterpiece, this in order to touch the sum promised at the end of the work by the count Franz Walsegg-Stuppach and in addition, to honor the last wishes with her late husband.

In 1819, Sigismond von Neukomm will compose a Libera me to supplement this mass of requiem. The integral version “Neukomm” was given only once, the forgotten on December 19th 1819 with Rio de Janeiro then. In first world since 1819, two representations of the Requiem, concluded by the Released to me of Neukomm, took place in November 2005 (19 for the first) with Sarrebourg, in the Moselle. Under the direction of Jean-Claude Malgoire, with the " Large Stable and the Room of Roy" and the " Kantorei Saarlouis" , a recording of the second representation was used as support with creation of first CD of the integral Requiem. Another representation took place the March 10th 2006 with Liévin at the time of the commemoration of the Catastrophe of Courrières.

Let us quote also a version worked over again by Franz Beyer in 1971, and a final running away on “Amen” of the Lacrimosa written in 1995 per Robert D. Levin.

Birth of work

In the years preceding his death, Mozart turned more and more to the crowned Musique. One thus counts a whole succession of fragments of Kyrie gone back to 1787 to 1791 (cf Wolff2003, p.41). In order to consolidate its experiment in this field, it was successfully presented to the station of assistant of Leopold Hoffmann, the Kapellmeister of the Cathédrale Saint-Etienne of Vienna. The station of assistant was certainly not remunerated, but Mozart could thus hope for the place of Kapellmeister, which brought back 2000 guilders, a very lucrative statute thus. Mozart in June 1791 finished his Motet for the Corpus Christi, " Ave Verum Corpus" (KV618). The ordering of a work of more important sacred music was to thus reach him.

During the year 1791 Mozart accepted the ordering of a Requiem on behalf of several anonymous intermediaries, acting for the eccentric count Franz von Walsegg. Half of the reward was united with the order. Mozart conformed to the traditional shape of the text of the Requiem, and renonça simply to put in music Graduale and the Tract, which is done in general. One of the models would have been the requiem in C minor of Michael Haydn. At the time of the first of this work, Mozart, then 15 years old, had taken part in the orchestra.

As the composition advanced, the health of Mozart worsened. With its death on December 5th, 1791, he had only written the first measurements of the Introït ( Requiem Aeternam ) for all the instruments and the chorus. For the following part, the Kyrie , as well as the major part of the Sequence of the Dies Irae (of Dies Irae with Confutatis ), only the voices of the chorus and low continues were finished. Beyond, only some important parts of the orchestra were outlined (for example the solo of Trombone of the Tuba Mirum or generally voices of the first violins). The last sentence of the Sequence, the Lacrimosa , finished with the eighth measurement, it remained unfinished. In the years 1960 one discovered an outline of Fugue of the Amen , which was obviously to conclude the Lacrimosa . The following sentences, the Dominates Jesu Christe and the Hostias , was worked out for the chorus and part of low continuous. It missed the entirety of the Sanctus , of the Benedictus , the Agnus Dei , and of the Communion (Korten 1999, p.104).

One can understand that the widow of Mozart, Constanze Mozart, held much so that unfinished work is supplemented, one of the reasons being not to have to refund the first half of the payment poured in advance, and to obtain second half. She thus entrusted the task to finish the Requiem with other type-setters, mainly of the pupils of Mozart. Constanze Mozart was addressed initially to Joseph Eybler. He worked with the Orchestration of the sentences of the Dies Irae with the Lacrimosa , but gave up then the task for unknown reasons. He added his compositions directly on the partition autograph of Mozart.

Another young type-setter and raises of Mozart accepted the request then: Franz Xaver Süßmayr, which could be based on the work of Eybler for the orchestration. Süßmayr wrote the voices of the trumpets and drinking cups in the Kyrie (as well as part of the missing indications of the Basse continues) and supplemented the orchestration of the Séquence as well as the Offertoire , finished the Lacrimosa and composed of other sentences: Sanctus , Benedictus and Agnus Dei . It supplemented then the Communion ( Lux Aeterna ), in which it repeated two measurements of opening, which Mozart itself had composed, and gave them the words of the Lux Aeterna .

Whereas the additions with the Kyrie and the orchestration of Eybler were directly registered on the partition of Mozart, Süßmayr rewrote on a new sheet the original partition and the additions (sometimes by modifying them according to its ideas). There were then two partitions: on the one hand the " partition of travail" , which contained the writing of Mozart and the additions of Eybler, and which was used as base with the work of Süßmayr, and in addition the " partition with livrer" , with the completed version of Süßmayr. The latter comprised a falsified signature of Mozart (by Süßmayr), and was gone back to 1792. It was given this year to the intermediary of the count Walsegg (remained anonymous). Capital manuscripts, in particular the " partition with livrer" and the " partition of travail" , took between the 1830 and 1840 little by little way of Hofbibliothek of Vienna (today National library of Austria).

In addition to Eybler, other type-setters contributed certainly their share to the completion of work, and Süßmayr would have probably also benefitted from these contributions. Thus Maximilian Stadler would have obviously carried out at least outlines of the orchestration of the Domine Jesu . The parts of accompaniment in the Kyrie, identical to the voices of the chorus (left in Colla leaves ), also come with another hand; Leopold Nowak, editor of the band of the Requiem in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe, considered Franz Jakob Freystädtler as possible author, which cannot be checked in an obvious way using the analyzes of the writings.

The musical reasons for the elements resulting from Süßmayr refer obviously to the notes written by Mozart. In addition to that, references to other works of Mozart were discovered. This is why it is often admitted that Süßmayr or other participants in the work could resort to written or oral indications of Mozart himself (the widow of Mozart mentioned " ruines" or rather of the " ends of papier").

Work

Work is written for four soloists (Soprano, viola, Ténor and low), a chorus with four votes and a reduced traditional orchestra, composed by two basset horns (clarinets tenor), two Basson S, two Trompette S, three Trombone S, drinking cups, a whole with cords and a Basse continues (organ). The absence of wood acute (Flute S, Oboe) and of the French horn does not pass unperceived. Thus the sonority of the orchestra is strongly defined by the flexible and serious sounds of the basset horns and the cords. The orchestration, sober, reinforces the gravity and the transparency of work, and creates a dark and austere atmosphere. One does not find the effects such as Trémolo S, Trille S or distant orchestra , which one can hear in the Requiem of François-Joseph Gossec, made up 30 years earlier and which presents certain similarities with the Requiem of Mozart to the level of the melody reasons.

In the Requiem of Mozart, the chorus with four votes occupies all length the front of the scene, it has only short purely instrumental passages there. With some exceptions, the orchestra does nothing but serve the chorus. It is also the case of the singers soloists, they appear moved back in front of the chorus, and are primarily employed like Ensemble musical (except in the Tuba mirum ). Arias and other comparable forms of virtuosity soloist is completely absent, contrary to other works of crowned Musique and others operas, as well of Mozart as of its contemporaries. The chorus receives as for him a considerable freedom, would be this only in the Kyrie , to deploy its magnificence.

The principal tonality of the Requiem is the minor Ré, a tonality often associated (as at the time of the scenes of the Commandeur of Don Giovanni or in the string quartet the Young girl and Death of Franz Schubert) with serious things or which refer to beyond. All length, the tonalities move (except for the Sanctus in major D, not written by Mozart) in the field of if (i.e. in addition to minor D, major F, minor ground, if major, and also it minor). The connections between the sentences are often mediantic (for example of minor D to so major).

The duration of a representation is of approximately an hour (according to the degree of completion of the version and the tempo chosen by the leader).

Unfolding

(here “traditional” unfolding of the version supplemented by Süßmayr)

I. Introït : Requiem aeternam , Adagio, D m (chorus, soprano solo, chorus)

II. Kyrie , Allegro, D m (double fugue) (chorus)

III. Séquence

Dies irae , Allegro assai, D m (Chorus)
Tuba mirum , Andante, if M (quartet solo)
Rex tremendae , ground m (chorus)
Recordare , F M (quartet solo)
Confutatis , Andante, the m (chorus)
Lacrimosa , D m (chorus)

IV. Offertoire

Dominates Jesu , Andante idiot motor bike, ground m (chorus, quartet solo), running away Quam olim Abrahae (chorus)
Hostias , E sharp M (chorus) and repetition of the running away Quam olim Abrahae

V. Sanctus , Adagio, D M and running away Osanna (chorus)

VI. Benedictus , Andante, if M (quartet solo) and running away Osanna (chorus)

VII. Agnus Dei , D m (chorus)

VIII. Communion : Lux aeterna , Adagio, D m (soprano solo, chorus) + Allegro, D m (double fugue, chorus) (=Introït and Kyrie of Mozart)

Introït and Kyrie

The Requiem begin with an instrumental introduction to seven measures, in which wood (initially bassoons, then basset horns) present the main theme of work in an interlaced sequence. The model is the Hymne composed by Georg Friedrich Händel (chorus The ways off Zion C mourn extracts from the funerary anthem for the Queen Caroline, HWV 264), easy to retain especially because it is about a rising continuation of black. In several sentences of work one finds references to this passage, in particular in the will coloraturas of the Fugue Kyrie and the conclusion of the Lacrimosa . All this network of references is of great importance in work.

The trombones then announce the entry of the chorus, which entonne the topic, the low ones only first of all, imitated then by the other desks. The cords play of the figures of accompaniment, syncopated and shifted of a semiquaver, thus underlining the character solemn and measured music. After a solo of soprano on the text of the Te of this hymnus (on the 9th mode), whose chorus takes again the reasons, the main theme is treated by the chorus and the downwards slipping orchestra like sequences of semiquavers. Courses of the melodies, " maintenus" , played crescendo and slipping downwards, change and interlace themselves, moreover passages in Contrepoint and passages déclamés in agreement ( And lux perpetuated ) are alternated; all this made the charm of this stanza, which is completed by a half-cadence on the Dominante the Major one.

Without pause (Attacca) follows involving it running away of the Kyrie, which takes it again also a topic of Haendel. Mozart knew this topic well, after his arrangement of the Messie of Haendel (cf the stanza of the chorus And with his stripes we are healed resulting from the Messiah) as well as the final chorus of the Hymne of Dettingen of Haendel, HWV 265, which contains at the same time the countersubject of the topic of the running away. The reasons contrapunctic for the topic of this running away take again the two topics of Introitus and make variations of them. Initially diatonic, the continuations of rising semiquavers is relayed by chromatic continuations, which causes to increase the intensity. This passage appears somewhat demanding in the heights, in particular for the voices sopranos (until if). A final formula in a slowed down tempo (Adagio) finishes in an empty fifth, an agreement without third, which in the traditional era sounds antiquated, like a return wanted to the past.

Sequence (Dies Irae)

The Dies Irae starts without introduction and with power, complete orchestra and chorus playing. The violent ones calls of the chorus are reinforced by a Trémolo orchestra and syncopes introduced into the pauses choral societies. Immediately after the first violins several chromatic sequences of semiquavers until the resumption of the stanzas of the chorus play. A passage which makes effect, repeated three times: alternation " tremblante" , interpreted by the low general one, the violins in let us tons serious and the low one with the Unisson, of G sharp and in eighth notes, on the text Quantus tremor is futurus (" Which tremor sera" , in reference to the Dies Irae , the day of the Last Judgment) - Mozart was inspired here clearly text.

It is the case also of the following stanza Tuba mirum , introduced by a surge of agreements of three notes played in so Major (a mediant of minor D) by the trombones soloists, not-accompanied - according to the usual translation in German by tuba by Posaune (trombone). Two measurements later, low the soloist begins an imitation of this topic. At measurement 7 arrives a Point of organ, the only moment of all work, where one could consider a gives rhythm solo. Last black of the low one the soloist see the arrival of the tenor soloist, similar follow-up of way by the viola soloist and the soprano soloist, on a rather dramatic tone. On the text Cum vix justus sit securus (" When the Juste is hardly certain"), the piece passes to a stanza Homophone played by the four votes soloists, who articulate without accompaniment the " cum" and the " vix" over the strong moments of measurement (1 and 3), whereas over times " faibles" (2 and 4), the violins and Continuo answer; this " interruption" (that one could interpret as the interruption preceding the Last Judgment) resounds once choked ( sotto voce ), then strong and immediately afterwards piano , which finally leads in a Crescendo to a perfect Cadence.

A downward melody made of prolonged notes and played by the orchestra announces the " King of a majesty redoutable" ( Rex tremendae majestatis ), which is called by three powerful agreements of the chorus on the syllable Rex during the pauses of the orchestra. The chorus takes again the punctuated rate/rhythm then orchestra, which was known in Baroque music under the name of " Topos of the homage to the souverain" (Wolf). The sequence does not have which 22 measurements, but is during this short period rich in variations: homophons and choraux passages in counterpoint are alternated several times and lead in end to a rate of the chorus quasi not-accompanied, which for its part finishes on an agreement without third in minor D (like already in the Kyrie ).

One continues with 130 measurements of the longest sequence of work (and the first in odd measurements, makes three-quarter of them), the Recordare , in which not less than six stanzas of the Dies Irae are treated. In an introduction in 13 measurements, the basset horns are the first to present the topic.

Offertoire

Additions of Süßmayr: Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei

Second birth: creation, notes

Reception

Rewriting

References

Random links: