Mozart was a supremely talented asshole who lived fast, died young, and stayed pretty. It is said he was working on his Requiem when he croaked, but I suspect that when he died he was busy dying and his major contribution (such as it was) was over.
You see it was a piece of ghost writing from it’s inception, intended to be passed off as a creation of Count Franz von Walsegg in honor of his recently deceased wife and at least half of it was done by Franz Xaver Süssmayr who, if he’d been talented at all and not just a hack, we’d be including in “Süssmayr, Bach, and Brahms.
But we don’t, do we?
The Süssmayr completion of the Requiem is divided into fourteen movements, with the following structure:
- Introitus: Requiem aeternam (choir and soprano solo) (D minor)
- Kyrie eleison (choir) (D minor)
- Sequentia (text based on sections of the Dies Irae):
- Dies irae (choir) (D minor)
- Tuba mirum (soprano, contralto, tenor and bass solo) (B-flat major)
- Rex tremendae majestatis (choir) (G minor-D minor)
- Recordare, Jesu pie (soprano, contralto, tenor and bass solo) (F major)
- Confutatis maledictis (choir) (A minor-F major, last chord V of D minor)
- Lacrymosa dies illa (choir) (D minor)
- Offertorium:
- Domine Jesu Christe (choir with solo quartet) (G minor)
- Versus: Hostias et preces (choir) (E-flat major-G minor)
- Sanctus:
- Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth (choir) (D major)
- Benedictus (solo quartet, then choir) (B-flat major)
- Agnus Dei (choir) (D minor-B-flat major)
- Communio:
- Lux aeterna (soprano solo and choir) (B-flat major-D minor)
The Confutatis is well known for its string accompaniment; it opens with agitating figures that accentuate the wrathful sound of the basses and tenors, but it turns into sweet arpeggios in the second phrase while accompanying the soft sounds of the sopranos and altos.
“Agitating figures that accentuate the wrathful sound.” I like that. Obligatories below.
