History of the Composition: Mozart

Requiem
By: Kevin Blanco

03/31/2016
Requiem Mass in D minor (K.626)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27th 1756, and is
known as one of the most influential and popular composers of the Classical
Era. Mozart showed exceptional talent at a young age; at the age of five he
started to compose music as well as become skilled on the keyboard and
violin.1 Throughout Wolfgangs short career, he composed hundreds of
musical works including masses, operas, concertos, sonatas, and
symphonies.2 Though it seemed as if Mozart was born with a musical gift, he
did gain expertise through his father, Leopold Mozart, who was an
accomplished musician and composer in Salzburg, Vienna; as well as Johann
Sebastian Bach who was a successful composer and musician of the Baroque
Era. As Mozart developed as a composer throughout he short life, he
influenced both Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven who both went on
to become well-known composers.3 Wolfgang Mozart passed away at the age
of 35, leaving his final masterpiece unfinished on December 5, 1791.4 The
history of his final masterpiece known as the Requiem Mass in D minor is
what is discussed in this essay.
A Requiem Mass is a mass in the Catholic Church played to put the soul of a
deceased person to rest, also known as the mass for the dead.5 With that
being said, its obviously that Mozart wrote this Requiem Mass upon request.
In July of 1791 Mozart received a request for a requiem from a stranger who
chose to remain anonymous and advanced half the money for the requiem
before it was even written. It later came out that the anonymous stranger
was in fact Count Walsegg, an amateur flutist and cellist who was a branded
1 Early life and works: http://www.britannica.com/biography/WolfgangAmadeus-Mozart
2 Synopsis: http://www.biography.com/people/wolfgang-mozart-9417115
3 Early life and works & The central Viennese period:
http://www.britannica.com/biography/Wolfgang-Amadeus-Mozart
4 First Paragraph: http://www.classicalnotes.net/classics/mozartrequiem.html
5 Bailey, Wayne; In Performance: Pg. 176

thief of music but wanted this requiem to honor the death of his young wife.6
Though Mozart was already invested in writing two operas: The Magic Flute
and La clemenza di Tito, he took on the requiem assignment. Composing
three musical works at the same time was too much to handle for a man who
was suffering from a series exhausting fevers which is why Mozart was only
able to completely finish those two operas and left the requiem unfinished
before he passed away. The Requiem Mass in D Minor was composed of
seven movements and Mozart only completed the first movement before his
death, the Introit. The next three movements, the Kyrie, Sequence, and
Offertorium were remotely laid out, and the Benedictus, Agnus Dei, and
Communio were completely unwritten.7
The portion of the Requiem Mass in D Minor that was written by Mozart
surely illustrated musical characteristics that Mozart was known for, the
orchestra focused on the strings, with woodwinds included when emphasis
on sadness was needed, as well as reliance on brass and timpani for the
impactful moments of the piece. This piece did shed influences of J.S. Bach
and George Frideric Handel, both masterful composers of the Baroque Era;
specifically the vocal writing of the piece which included elaborate
contrapuntal layers, which are the combining of different melodic lines in a
music composition.8
Since Mozart passed away before he could complete the requiem, his wife,
Constanze, had to take the initiative to complete the requiem before Court
Walsegg asked for a refund of the money he already paid. Joseph Eybler was
the first composer invited to complete the requiem before he quit because it
was too problematical. After several composers turned down the offer to try
to complete the requiem, Franz Xaver Submayr finally agreed to finish the
piece; Submayr had studied composition with Mozart during the final months
of his life.9 Submayr completed the three movements Mozart had laid out
6
7
8
9

Fifth Paragraph: http://www.classicalnotes.net/classics/mozartrequiem.html

Third Paragraph: http://www.britannica.com/topic/Requiem-in-D-Minor
Fourth Paragraph: http://www.britannica.com/topic/Requiem-in-D-Minor
Abert, Hermann; W.A. Mozart: Pg. 1313

with the help of Constanze and composed the remaining three movements
entirely alone without any influence of Mozart. Though it is said that
Constanze provided Submayr with portions of Mozarts music that was
possibly for the requiem, the authenticity of how much of the actual requiem
was written by Mozart himself was up to question.10
Despite the controversy of the compositions creation, it was greatly popular
after it was finally released. This composition is indeed special because of
the fact that Mozart wrote a requiem (a mass for the dead) as he was dying.
During his sickness Mozart grew paranoid that he was writing a requiem for
himself, and his paranoia stood true. With that being said, the Requiem Mass
in D minor is an extraordinary piece, a piece that bleeds emotion through its
musical notes. In the words of Constanze herself, Mozart always conceived
his works in their entirety,11 thus the requiem is taken as a whole whether
Mozart wrote the whole piece himself or left it unfinished.

10 Paragraph 12: http://www.classicalnotes.net/classics/mozartrequiem.html

11 Paragraph 11: http://www.classicalnotes.net/classics/mozartrequiem.html

References Sited
Abert, Hermann, Stewart Spencer, and Cliff Eisen. W.A. Mozart. New Haven: Yale
UP, 2007.
Print.
Bailey, Wayne. In Performance. New York: Oxford UP, 2016. Print.
Book
Gutmann, Peter. "Classical Notes - Classical Classics - Mozart: Requiem, By Peter
Gutmann." Classical Notes - Classical Classics - Mozart: Requiem, By Peter
Gutmann. Classical Notes, 2006. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.
Sadie, Stanley. "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart." Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Apr. 2015. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.
Schwarm, Betsy. "Requiem in D Minor, K 626." Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Encyclopedia Britannica, 24 Apr. 2015. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.
"Wolfgang Mozart." Bio.com. Ed. Biography.com Editors. A&E Networks Television,
n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.