Mozart’s Requiem endures as one of the most iconic pieces of music from one of the greatest composers of all time. Yet, it is shrouded in myth and mystery. In July 1791, an “unknown, gray stranger” visited the composer to commission a mass for the dead from an anonymous patron.

Mozart, whose health was deteriorating, believed he had been cursed:
“I fear that I am writing a Requiem for myself.”

In his final days, the dying composer sang sections of the Requiem with his wife, Constanze, and his friends. He gave notes and sketches to his student, Franz Xaver Süssmayr.

Mozart died on December 5th, 1791, at the age of 35, leaving the Requiem unfinished. Several composers helped to fill in sections of the work, but completion fell to Süssmayr, who rewrote the final score in his own hand, with the false inscription: di me (“by me”) W.A. Mozart, 1792.

[ Ссылка ]

свернуть