# Mozart's Requiem



## Clouds Weep Snowflakes

While Mozart's Requiem was his final composition (our of more than 600), and had to be finished by one of his disciples names Franz Xaver Sussmayr as of Mozart's death, is it one of his greatest pieces of music and a relic of the entire field of Classical music; I'm putting this in the "Religious Music" category, as a Requiem is a Catholic Mass for a deceased faithful, and Mozart was a devout member of the Church.

This composition, in my opinion, is just plain awesome, though is it a bit creepy to pass away while composing something like that; this also raises a question-what was played in Mozart's own funeral?

And what other Classical musicians wrote Requiems?


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## Joe B

Clouds Weep Snowflakes said:


> .....
> 
> And what other Classical musicians wrote Requiems?


Favourite Requiem Mass?


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## Jacck

Clouds Weep Snowflakes said:


> And what other Classical musicians wrote Requiems?


Top 5 Requiems?
my personal favorites beyond Mozart are Dvořák, Fauré, Duruflé, Zelenka in C minor (though it is not clear if he wrote it), Brahms, Verdi, Berlioz, Saint-Saens, Cherubini, Tomášek, Kozlovsky, Stanford


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## Clouds Weep Snowflakes

So it seems this thread got off-course a bit, so let's go back to Mozart's Requiem please? This is actually one of the first pieces of Classical music I listened to as a kid.


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## Ollie

*Mozart's Requiem.*



Joe B said:


> Favourite Requiem Mass?


 Dear All - this is without doubt the best piece of religious (or any other) music ever written - unfortunately whilst i have the recording by Gardiner - which is excellent - i can't find the version for sale by Arsys Bourgogne (seemingly only available on youtube) - i don't want a dvd just a cd for my weekly radio show - Yours Faithfully, Ollie.


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## Ollie

Clouds Weep Snowflakes said:


> While Mozart's Requiem was his final composition (our of more than 600), and had to be finished by one of his disciples names Franz Xaver Sussmayr as of Mozart's death, is it one of his greatest pieces of music and a relic of the entire field of Classical music; I'm putting this in the "Religious Music" category, as a Requiem is a Catholic Mass for a deceased faithful, and Mozart was a devout member of the Church.
> 
> This composition, in my opinion, is just plain awesome, though is it a bit creepy to pass away while composing something like that; this also raises a question-what was played in Mozart's own funeral?
> 
> And what other Classical musicians wrote Requiems?


An account appeared in an obituary for Schack which was published in the 25 July 1827 issue of the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung:

"On the very eve of his death, [Mozart] had the score of the Requiem brought to his bed, and himself (it was two o'clock in the afternoon) sang the alto part; Schack, the family friend, sang the soprano line, as he had always previously done, Hofer, Mozart's brother-in-law, took the tenor, Gerl, later a bass singer at the Mannheim Theater, the bass. They were at the first bars of the Lacrimosa when Mozart began to weep bitterly, laid the score on one side, and eleven hours later, at one o'clock in the morning (of 5 December 1791, as is well known), departed this life."


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## Clouds Weep Snowflakes

Ollie said:


> Dear All - this is without doubt the best piece of religious (or any other) music ever written - unfortunately whilst i have the recording by Gardiner - which is excellent - i can't find the version for sale by Arsys Bourgogne (seemingly only available on youtube) - i don't want a dvd just a cd for my weekly radio show - Yours Faithfully, Ollie.


Here are this piece's lyrics in Latin and a translation to English:
http://www.good-music-guide.com/reviews/055lyrics.htm
Lacrimosa:
https://zenmoments.org/lacrimosa-requiem-wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/


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## Kieran

Mozart's Requiem is one of those solidly beautiful pieces of music, ethereal and elevated, sounds like it isn't from _here_, but is from _there _and is only visiting _here _as an undeserved gift. I think that although Mozart had often been close to death in his life, his weariness and pain informed this one, to the extent that perhaps it was the ideal work for a dying man to grapple with, in the sense that maybe it even brought him some spiritual solace as he progressed. This is simply speculation because we have no way of knowing his thoughts at this time, and he was also working on other things too, but it's not a stretch.

In this sense, I don't think of it as "creepy" that he was composing it when he died. I'd think in more hopeful terms, but also, it was sheer coincidence that he was composing it then, and we know that Mozart more or less became allergic to composing church music after his treatment in Salzburg, but somehow in his final weeks he composed the Ave Verum and the Requiem, two works of the highest stature among works of this kind.

I don't know what requiem was played at his own funeral, I don't know if that's mentioned anywhere, unfortunately, I but would also be interested to know...


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## Guest

I don't know for sure but I rather doubt that any music, let alone any kind of requiem mass, was performed at Mozart's funeral.

According to the Wiki article on Mozart's death (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart) it would seem that Mozart was buried in a "common grave" at a simple funeral at a cemetery outside Vienna. One wouldn't expect to see anything more than a few prayers said at the graveside.

It states: _"... Only a few friends and three women accompanied the corpse. Mozart's wife was not present. These few people with their umbrellas stood round the bier, which then taken via the Grosse Schullerstrasse to the St. Marx Cemetery"_.

I suppose there might have been a memorial service at a later date in a church somewhere, at which a sung requiem service of some kind may have been performed, but if so I haven't come across any details of this.


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## Clouds Weep Snowflakes

Partita said:


> I don't know for sure but I rather doubt that any music, let alone any kind of requiem mass, was performed at Mozart's funeral.
> 
> According to the Wiki article on Mozart's death (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart) it would seem that Mozart was buried in a "common grave" at a simple funeral at a cemetery outside Vienna. One wouldn't expect to see anything more than a few prayers said at the graveside.
> 
> It states: _"... Only a few friends and three women accompanied the corpse. Mozart's wife was not present. These few people with their umbrellas stood round the bier, which then taken via the Grosse Schullerstrasse to the St. Marx Cemetery"_.
> 
> I suppose there might have been a memorial service at a later date in a church somewhere, at which a sung requiem service of some kind may have been performed, but if so I haven't come across any details of this.


Really? Not only he died in such a young age, but like this? That's really sad, and such a great man deserved much more than that...but at the end, he became his music, which will never die!


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## Guest

Clouds Weep Snowflakes said:


> Really? Not only he died in such a young age, but like this? That's really sad, and such a great man deserved much more than that...but at the end, he became his music, which will never die!


Debate still continues about the exact cause of Mozart's death. All manner of different theories have been put forward. I once read up on all this and concluded that the cause was highly uncertain, except that deliberate poisoning by an outside agent was unlikely.

He probably picked up a horrible bug of some sort going around at that time. "Severe military fever" is one possible cause that has been mentioned, whatever that is. Due to the inadequacies of medicine at that time he could not be saved, and died quite soon. There was no autopsy carried out on Mozart, unlike the situation with Beethoven many years later. So speculation -as to Mozart's cause of death will no doubt continue.

Even though Vienna has many statues of Mozart, no-one has a clue as to where he is buried. If ever you get the chance to visit Vienna, one of the top places to head for is the Central Cemetery which is on many tourist's short lists. There's a central area where the graves of Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms are close together. These are genuine graves containing the deceased. There is also a statue of Mozart close by, but as noted that's all it is.

Vienna is definitely worth putting on your "bucket list" of places to visit before you hang up your clogs. I enjoyed my visit a few years ago and plan another before too long. It's a delight to wander around the City.


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## Clouds Weep Snowflakes

Partita said:


> Debate still continues about the exact cause of Mozart's death. All manner of different theories have been put forward. I once read up on all this and concluded that the cause was highly uncertain, except that deliberate poisoning by an outside agent was unlikely.
> 
> He probably picked up a horrible bug of some sort going around at that time. "Severe military fever" is one possible cause that has been mentioned, whatever that is. Due to the inadequacies of medicine at that time he could not be saved, and died quite soon. There was no autopsy carried out on Mozart, unlike the situation with Beethoven many years later. So speculation -as to Mozart's cause of death will no doubt continue.
> 
> Even though Vienna has many statues of Mozart, no-one has a clue as to where he is buried. If ever you get the chance to visit Vienna, one of the top places to head for is the Central Cemetery which is on many tourist's short lists. There's a central area where the graves of Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms are close together. These are genuine graves containing the deceased. There is also a statue of Mozart close by, but as noted that's all it is.
> 
> Vienna is definitely worth putting on your "bucket list" of places to visit before you hang up your clogs. I enjoyed my visit a few years ago and plan another before too long. It's a delight to wander around the City.


Most beautiful city in the world...


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