#WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART REQUIEM PROFESSIONAL#

Also, the fact that SГјssmayr brought back the Hosanna fugue in a different key at the end of the Benedictus came in for criticism. The Sanctus received some criticism in terms of orchestration, and the fact that the Hosanna is a truncated fugue rather than something more fully-blown. There is no reason to doubt this, although some claim that the movements that SГјssmayr composed do not have the idiomatically Mozartian lines and that they possess flaws in musical style and grammar that are foreign to MozartвЂ™s idiom. SГјssmayr claimed that his work (apart from the Sanctus and Agnus Dei) was entirely based on MozartвЂ™s own sketches and plans. It is true that the SГјssmayr completion does suffer from some over-scoring at times, especially in the trombone writing during choruses, but with judicious вЂthinning outвЂ™ the clarity of the music can shine through luminously and one is easily convinced that we are listening to a work by Mozart. Indeed, the Benedictus is arguably one of the finest movements, and surely one of which even Mozart would have been proud. Others have tried to reconstruct the work from MozartвЂ™s original sketches, but in my opinion, none has succeeded as well as SГјssmayr. It is for this reason that our recording is true to this version of the work. In fact, the popularity of MozartвЂ™s Requiem today is owed to the considerable and skilled efforts of SГјssmayr. She also arranged a public benefit performance of the work which further frustrated the CountвЂ™s plans. The work might not exist today if it were not for the fact that Constanza broke the terms of the agreement and had the entire score copied out for her own safekeeping, in addition to the copy that was delivered to the Count. Apparently, Count Franz was delighted with the result, which suited his devious purposes admirably! SГјssmayr was certainly not a composer of MozartвЂ™s ability or genius, but he was skilled enough for the job to be done well. In fact, it may well be that SГјssmayr wrote down from dictation many of MozartвЂ™s ideas for the work. SГјssmayr knew Mozart well and had been with him during the creative process-his handwriting was also very similar to MozartвЂ™s. She finally persuaded MozartвЂ™s 25-year-old pupil, Franz Xaver SГјssmayr to complete and score the Requiem. Mozart had only finished the vocal parts and continuo from the Introit to the Offertory, and the Lacrimosa ended after just eight bars. In order to be paid the other half of the commissioning fee, she had to deliver a completed score, and being also in serious financial hardship following the death of her husband, she searched for someone to complete the work for her. Already exhausted from writing two operas La Clemenza di Tito and Die ZauberflГ¶te-both in production at the time-he had little energy left for the Requiem, and he died without completing the work.ДЄfter MozartвЂ™s death, his widow Constanza was confronted with a dilemma. However, Mozart could not ignore the stage payments on offer to him as he was, by all accounts, considerably in debt. MozartвЂ™s mysterious visitor undoubtedly had an adverse effect on his health, seeing this request as an omen of his own death. The Count was commissioning Mozart to write the Requiem so he could pass it off as his own! He also liked to commission works secretly (copying the instrumental parts in his own hand) and then asking the players to guess who the composer was.

#WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART REQUIEM PROFESSIONAL#

The stranger in grey was, in fact, the steward of a Viennese aristocrat, Count Franz von Walsegg-Stuppach, a wealthy amateur musician who was accustomed to hiring professional musicians to perform in his home. Those who have seen Peter ShafferвЂ™s play Amadeus-later made into the box office hit film-know well the fictional notion that the composer Salieri was the mysterious stranger who visited Mozart and paid him to write the Requiem for an вЂanonymous patronвЂ™. The various myths which have surrounded the Requiem were largely spread by his biographers after his death and were fanciful.

Wolfgang amadeus mozart requiem