The Sadness and Genius of the Mozart Requiem
Walsegg-Stuppach intended to have the mass performed as his own, once completed, he being only 28 at the time, never to remarry.
Mozart died before he could complete this epic work, although he left quite a few manuscript pages showing what he was thinking of, some in quite a bit of detail, enabling the work to be completed by others.
Constanze Mozart, after Mozart’s death, was keen to get the work finished because of the 50% still owing upon completion. She asked Joseph von Eybler, a friend and pupil of Mozart to finish the score. He did some work on it but, because of his own composing, felt he was unable to complete the work and returned it.
Franz Xaver Sussmayer, another friend and pupil of Mozart’s was then given the task of finishing the work.
Using Mozart’s original drafts, Eybler’s additional work, both his own competency and the fact that he had been taught by Mozart, he finished the requiem. He had to add the movements which would be normal in a requiem, whilst ending with adaptations of the first two movements.
Tag: Classical, History of Music, Music, Personalities |
