Requiem in D Minor

Mozart’s Requiem is one of the supreme monuments of the choral repertoire but remains shrouded in mystery. It was commissioned anonymously in 1791 by an eccentric nobleman in memory of his young bride. That summer found Mozart occupied with operatic projects, however: the composition and premieres of both The Magic Flute and La clemenza di Tito, the latter written in only 18 days and premiered in Prague, where Mozart possibly contracted the illness that led to his death. Back in Vienna, he drafted a continuity score of much of the Requiem but orchestrated only the earliest pages; the vocal parts of the central Sequence, depicting the Last Judgement, and the Offertory are largely written out but remained unorchestrated at his death on 5 December. The task of completing the work to fulfil the lucrative commission fell ultimately upon Mozart’s assistant, Franz Xaver Süssmayr, whose work has often been criticised for being uneven and technically clumsy. He orchestrated the sections left bare by Mozart and composed anew the “Sanctus”, “Benedictus” and “Agnus Dei”. Arguments continue to rage over how much Süssmayr relied on Mozart’s supposed instructions or sketches in his work, and since the 1970s a number of attempts have been made to improve upon his attempt. It is nevertheless largely through the traditional completion, compiled by the grieving amanuensis in 1792, that the Requiem remains among the most revered of all Mozart’s works.