Mozart’s last composition, his Requiem Mass K 626, was left incomplete when he died on December 5, 1791. It was finished by the composer’s student, Franz Xaver Süssmayr. The extent to which he relied on notes left by Mozart is uncertain. Süssmayr’s other compositions are rarely performed and do not reach the level of his work on Mozart’s great mass. Were it not for his completion of this work, no one would know who he was.
Despite stories of a mysterious stranger who commissioned the mass, it was written at the behest of Count Franz von Walsegg to mark the anniversary of the death of his 20-year-old wife in February 1791. The count likely intended to claim authorship of the piece as he had done with other works commissioned by him, but this subterfuge was frustrated by Mozart’s widow, Constanze, who arranged for a public benefit performance of the mass, establishing its provenance before Walsegg could claim it as his own. He paid the money owed to Mozart when a clean copy of the work was given to him.
Mozart’s Requiem, as amended by Süssmayr, has eight sections: Introitus, Kyrie, Sequentia, Offertorium, Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei, and Communio. The opening Introitus has two parts, Requiem aeternam and Kyrie. Süssmayr claimed to have written the last three movements on his own, but he likely made use of notes by Mozart that were subsequently destroyed. Though there have been numerous attempts to supplant Süssmayr’s completion of the score, his version is by far the most frequently performed.
The cause of Mozart’s death at 35 will never be known for certain. One possibility is that he had post-streptococcal acute glomerulonephritis. His wife, who proved to be much better at business than her genius husband, popularized the beguiling legend that the composer believed he was writing the requiem to mark his own death.
Despite its unfinished (by Mozart) state, it is one of the supreme achievements in this genre. Only the Verdi Requiem is in the same artistic universe. Other masses for the repose of the dead of great distinction are those by Berlioz, Fauré, Brahms, and Dvořák.
The Requiem is scored for two basset horns in F, two bassoons, two trumpets in D, three trombones (alto, tenor, and bass), timpani (two drums), violins, viola, and basso continuo (cello, double bass, and organ).
The complete performance of Mozart’s masterpiece below was recorded in Warsaw in 2019.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Requiem KV 626
Bartosz Michałowski – conductor
Sylwia Olszyńska – soprano
Agata Schmidt – mezzo-soprano
Karol Kozłowski – tenor
Adam Kutny – baritone
Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra
Warsaw Philharmonic Choir
Recorded November 01, 2019 at the Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall
