What do you think?
Rate this book
Mozart's Requiem: Historical and Analytical Studies, Documents, Score
Mozart's unfinished Requiem has long been shrouded in mystery. Mozart undertook the commission for an Austrian nobleman, little knowing that he was to write a requiem for himself. Inevitably, the secrecy surrounding the anonymous commission, the circumstances of Mozart's death, the unfinished state of the work, and its completion under the direction of Mozart's widow, Constanze, have precipitated two centuries of romantic speculation and scholarly controversy.
Christoph Wolff provides a critical introduction to the Requiem in its many facets. Part I of his study focuses on the tangled genesis and completion of the work and its fascinating early reception history until Constanze's death. Wolff summarizes the current state of research on the subject, provides new perspectives on Mozart's conception of the whole work, and surveys his contributions to the movements composed posthumously by his assistant, Süssmayr. Part II provides a musical analysis of Mozart's composition, including contextual, structural, and interpretive aspects. Part III consists of an annotated collection of the principal literary documents (1791-1839) that illuminate the fascinating early history of the Requiem.
The book concludes with a complete edition of the work that is at the center of Wolff's study, the authentic score of the Requiem―Mozart's fragment―supplemented by crucial excerpts from Süssmayr's 1792 Requiem completion.
Christoph Wolff provides a critical introduction to the Requiem in its many facets. Part I of his study focuses on the tangled genesis and completion of the work and its fascinating early reception history until Constanze's death. Wolff summarizes the current state of research on the subject, provides new perspectives on Mozart's conception of the whole work, and surveys his contributions to the movements composed posthumously by his assistant, Süssmayr. Part II provides a musical analysis of Mozart's composition, including contextual, structural, and interpretive aspects. Part III consists of an annotated collection of the principal literary documents (1791-1839) that illuminate the fascinating early history of the Requiem.
The book concludes with a complete edition of the work that is at the center of Wolff's study, the authentic score of the Requiem―Mozart's fragment―supplemented by crucial excerpts from Süssmayr's 1792 Requiem completion.
- GenresMusic
276 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
About the author
Christoph Wolff
116 books21 followersChristoph Wolff is a German-born musicologist, who is best known for his works on the music, life, and times of Johann Sebastian Bach. Christoph Wolff has been on the faculty of Harvard University since 1976 and director of the Bach Archive in Leipzig since 2001.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 8, 2024
5 ⭐
Jacob Gottfried Weber (or “Giftfried” as Beethoven chides)—a lawyer well-versed in musical theory—described Mozart’s Requiem as “the least perfect, the least finished” of all his works and ”scarcely worthy to be called a work of Mozart’s at all”. Maximilian (Abbé) Stadler—composer, musicologist, pianist, and friend of the Mozarts—on the other hand, rebuked this, saying ”No, no! It is his most perfect, his most finished, as far as he was able to execute it before his death, a work genuinely and purely Mozart’s”. Will Smith recently put an end to the argument when, bizarrely addressing the deceased Weber, he yelled ”get my Mozart’s naame… out your fuckin’… MOUTH!” A little uncouth but a sentiment I share nonetheless.
The major question, and indeed the source of the great debate, which has drawn opinions, even from such heavyweights as Beethoven and Goethe, is how much of the Requiem’s score was completed by Mozart, before his death, and how much of it is the work of his then amanuensis, Franz Xaver Süssmayr, along with minor contributions from Freystädtler, Eybler and Stadler. Spoiler, we don’t know for sure, and we probably never will. Despite this, Wolff has done an exceptional job of bringing together all relevant information, including drama-packed contemporary documents, first hand accounts of people in the fold and his own analysis of the autographed score, in a way that really sheds valuable light on already well-trodden ground.
I recently read Christoph Wolff’s ‘Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician’, which was a fantastic, exhaustively researched biography and I can say, without reservation, that he has brought his A-game again, here, with this historical and analytical study of Mozart’s most controversial and debated work, the Requiem.
In addressing degrees of contribution, Wolff’s main focus is on analysis of compositional techniques and direct accounts from individuals within Mozart’s immediate circle and those connected, in any meaningful way, with the composition; Count Franz von Walsegg (the “anonymous” and “mysterious” commissioner), Constanze Mozart (Wolfgang’s wife), Abbé Stadler, Xaver Süssmayr and Joseph Eybler, along with a number of Mozartian connoisseurs. Wolff’s opinion is almost in complete agreement with Stadler’s whose correspondence, included in the final chapter, is by far the most convincing in its professionalism and clear knowledge of Mozart’s process. Namely, that the first 3 movements—Introit/Kyrie, Sequence (from Dies irae to the Lacrimosa) and Offertory were all but laid out ready to be a full score with the whole vocal quartet and partial figured bass completed. The first movement was orchestrated in full while the Sequence and Offertory had only the “motivic idea” of the orchestral accompaniment indicated. ”Sussmayr’s work really began with the Lacrimosa” which he continued and finished, starting at the 9th bar. After the Offertory, it's essentially Sussmayr flying solo using any notes/directions left over by Mozart as well as knowledge gained from working on the project for several months with the little maestro. ”During Mozart’s lifetime he often played and sang through with him the pieces that had already been composed… [and] very often discussed the completion of this work and communicated the way and the reasons of his orchestration”.
In analysing the compositional style of the separate movements so as to distinguish Mozart’s work from Sussmayr’s, Wolff displays a very impressive working knowledge of Music Theory and of Mozart’s own compositional process. I won’t claim to have understood every last details of Wolff’s analysis regarding aspects such as counterpoint or the abundance of harmonic procedures/modulations that Mozart adopts throughout the work but it is explained in such a way that the layman, while not being held by the hand, can still gain a fantastic appreciation for Mozart’s musical intentions. This section also has an amazing discussion on how the text of the Requiem sets the tone for musical invention in each movement as well as delving into some of the key figures whom Mozart was heavily influenced by as he dipped his toes in this new “genre”; namely the likes of Michael Haydn, François-Joseph Gossec, Florian Gassmann, J.S.Bach, C.P.E.Bach, W.F.Bach (Here a Bach, there a Bach, everywhere a Bach, Bach!) and most prominently, Handel. It is said that Handel can be seen in his motivic material and Bach in his contrapuntal.
Unfortunately for Sussmayr, rarely does one’s work get compared to Mozart’s and come off anything but a dishevelled second best, and this is no exception. I actually felt somewhat relieved to hear where Mozart’s contributions tapered off as I’ve always felt that the Requiem loses something in the back half, I just never knew what it was until now! With no malice intended, only the intention to illustrate that some movements could not possibly have been the work of Mozart, Wolff regularly puts Sussmayr’s shortcoming under the microscope, but always with justification and fairness:
”…in view of the haste in which he was forced to work, his achievement is astonishing. There are, it is true, all kinds of infelicities, technical solecisms, and an absence of contrapuntal facility and inspired ideas, but these are features of other work by Sussmayr, and completing the Requiem presented demands and difficulties far outside the normal range of his activity.”
So that’s 2 from 2 for Wolff, I’m on board and you should be too! There are at least a few fans of the Requiem out there as, last I checked, ‘Rex tremendae’ had 2,548,984 listens on spotify. Even, deducting my own contribution of 2,308,960 listens, that’s still impressive! I’ll be heading to QLD at the end of May to see this performed by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Brisbane Chamber Choir, along with Stravinsky’s ’Symphonies of Wind Instruments’ and Debussy’s ‘Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune’ and this has definitely deepened my connection to the work, and anticipation for the performance. Bye for now.
Update 21/5/22: He went. He saw. He loved! One last thing: Spielberg, I'mma let you finish, but 'Rex Tremendae' would've been the greatest T-Rex intro theme of all time!
”Peace be on the ashes of the great master, and also on his revered patron, to whose liberality we are indebted for this so valuable work of art” - Anton Herzog
Jacob Gottfried Weber (or “Giftfried” as Beethoven chides)—a lawyer well-versed in musical theory—described Mozart’s Requiem as “the least perfect, the least finished” of all his works and ”scarcely worthy to be called a work of Mozart’s at all”. Maximilian (Abbé) Stadler—composer, musicologist, pianist, and friend of the Mozarts—on the other hand, rebuked this, saying ”No, no! It is his most perfect, his most finished, as far as he was able to execute it before his death, a work genuinely and purely Mozart’s”. Will Smith recently put an end to the argument when, bizarrely addressing the deceased Weber, he yelled ”get my Mozart’s naame… out your fuckin’… MOUTH!” A little uncouth but a sentiment I share nonetheless.
The major question, and indeed the source of the great debate, which has drawn opinions, even from such heavyweights as Beethoven and Goethe, is how much of the Requiem’s score was completed by Mozart, before his death, and how much of it is the work of his then amanuensis, Franz Xaver Süssmayr, along with minor contributions from Freystädtler, Eybler and Stadler. Spoiler, we don’t know for sure, and we probably never will. Despite this, Wolff has done an exceptional job of bringing together all relevant information, including drama-packed contemporary documents, first hand accounts of people in the fold and his own analysis of the autographed score, in a way that really sheds valuable light on already well-trodden ground.
I recently read Christoph Wolff’s ‘Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician’, which was a fantastic, exhaustively researched biography and I can say, without reservation, that he has brought his A-game again, here, with this historical and analytical study of Mozart’s most controversial and debated work, the Requiem.
In addressing degrees of contribution, Wolff’s main focus is on analysis of compositional techniques and direct accounts from individuals within Mozart’s immediate circle and those connected, in any meaningful way, with the composition; Count Franz von Walsegg (the “anonymous” and “mysterious” commissioner), Constanze Mozart (Wolfgang’s wife), Abbé Stadler, Xaver Süssmayr and Joseph Eybler, along with a number of Mozartian connoisseurs. Wolff’s opinion is almost in complete agreement with Stadler’s whose correspondence, included in the final chapter, is by far the most convincing in its professionalism and clear knowledge of Mozart’s process. Namely, that the first 3 movements—Introit/Kyrie, Sequence (from Dies irae to the Lacrimosa) and Offertory were all but laid out ready to be a full score with the whole vocal quartet and partial figured bass completed. The first movement was orchestrated in full while the Sequence and Offertory had only the “motivic idea” of the orchestral accompaniment indicated. ”Sussmayr’s work really began with the Lacrimosa” which he continued and finished, starting at the 9th bar. After the Offertory, it's essentially Sussmayr flying solo using any notes/directions left over by Mozart as well as knowledge gained from working on the project for several months with the little maestro. ”During Mozart’s lifetime he often played and sang through with him the pieces that had already been composed… [and] very often discussed the completion of this work and communicated the way and the reasons of his orchestration”.
In analysing the compositional style of the separate movements so as to distinguish Mozart’s work from Sussmayr’s, Wolff displays a very impressive working knowledge of Music Theory and of Mozart’s own compositional process. I won’t claim to have understood every last details of Wolff’s analysis regarding aspects such as counterpoint or the abundance of harmonic procedures/modulations that Mozart adopts throughout the work but it is explained in such a way that the layman, while not being held by the hand, can still gain a fantastic appreciation for Mozart’s musical intentions. This section also has an amazing discussion on how the text of the Requiem sets the tone for musical invention in each movement as well as delving into some of the key figures whom Mozart was heavily influenced by as he dipped his toes in this new “genre”; namely the likes of Michael Haydn, François-Joseph Gossec, Florian Gassmann, J.S.Bach, C.P.E.Bach, W.F.Bach (Here a Bach, there a Bach, everywhere a Bach, Bach!) and most prominently, Handel. It is said that Handel can be seen in his motivic material and Bach in his contrapuntal.
Unfortunately for Sussmayr, rarely does one’s work get compared to Mozart’s and come off anything but a dishevelled second best, and this is no exception. I actually felt somewhat relieved to hear where Mozart’s contributions tapered off as I’ve always felt that the Requiem loses something in the back half, I just never knew what it was until now! With no malice intended, only the intention to illustrate that some movements could not possibly have been the work of Mozart, Wolff regularly puts Sussmayr’s shortcoming under the microscope, but always with justification and fairness:
”…in view of the haste in which he was forced to work, his achievement is astonishing. There are, it is true, all kinds of infelicities, technical solecisms, and an absence of contrapuntal facility and inspired ideas, but these are features of other work by Sussmayr, and completing the Requiem presented demands and difficulties far outside the normal range of his activity.”
So that’s 2 from 2 for Wolff, I’m on board and you should be too! There are at least a few fans of the Requiem out there as, last I checked, ‘Rex tremendae’ had 2,548,984 listens on spotify. Even, deducting my own contribution of 2,308,960 listens, that’s still impressive! I’ll be heading to QLD at the end of May to see this performed by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Brisbane Chamber Choir, along with Stravinsky’s ’Symphonies of Wind Instruments’ and Debussy’s ‘Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune’ and this has definitely deepened my connection to the work, and anticipation for the performance. Bye for now.
Update 21/5/22: He went. He saw. He loved! One last thing: Spielberg, I'mma let you finish, but 'Rex Tremendae' would've been the greatest T-Rex intro theme of all time!
”Peace be on the ashes of the great master, and also on his revered patron, to whose liberality we are indebted for this so valuable work of art” - Anton Herzog
February 14, 2012
I was drawn to this book after joining an amateur choir that will be performing the Requiem in its entirety, and am reading it with the eyes of a layperson, neither academic nor musicologist. From that perspective I found the book extremely illuminating. I believe it will also interest other general readers, though some familiarity with Mozart's biography and a general understanding of musical terminology will definitely help substantially.
The book is divided into four principle divisions: an analysis of the problems pertaining to our understanding of the Requiem's history and authorship, a short musicological analysis of the mass, a collection of historical documents pertaining to its composition, and a copy of the score that Mozart left behind, along with Süssmayr's score.
With respect to the problems of authorship, the basic facts are well-known. The Requiem was anonymously commissioned by Count Franz von Walsegg, who desired a suitable mass to memorialize his recently-departed wife. He presumably acted in secret in order to abet his proclivity for passing off commissioned works as his own.
Mozart fell ill during its composition and died, leaving a partially-completed score and sundry "scraps of paper" with notes for the uncompleted sections. The widow Constanze, desperately needing the balance of the commission, persuaded Mozart's student Franz Xaver Süssmayr to complete the work.
What we now possess are Mozart's autograph in a substantially uncompleted state, and Süssmayr's work. What we lack are the scraps of paper, so it is now a matter of conjecture how much Süssmayr contributed to the remaining sections. It is generally held that the Sanctus and Agnus Dei are nearly entirely Süssmayr's, as he himself maintained, and as they are rather of inferior quality.
The details of this history are surprisingly engaging on an anecdotal level, and help to bring the unique character of this work into focus. It is widely held that Mozart came to believe during his final illness that he was now writing the Requiem for himself, which may account for its rare gravity and pathos. It is the only one of Mozart's works I can easily think of that is devoid of whimsy.
The musicological analysis is extremely illuminating, and I particularly benefited from Wolff's exposition of the relationship between the music and the text.
I did not spend much time with the last two sections, which are resources primarily provided for specialists. It's interesting to scan through the historical documents, though.
My purpose was to get inside the Requiem, and Wolff's book enabled me to do that. It was a pleasure to read.
The book is divided into four principle divisions: an analysis of the problems pertaining to our understanding of the Requiem's history and authorship, a short musicological analysis of the mass, a collection of historical documents pertaining to its composition, and a copy of the score that Mozart left behind, along with Süssmayr's score.
With respect to the problems of authorship, the basic facts are well-known. The Requiem was anonymously commissioned by Count Franz von Walsegg, who desired a suitable mass to memorialize his recently-departed wife. He presumably acted in secret in order to abet his proclivity for passing off commissioned works as his own.
Mozart fell ill during its composition and died, leaving a partially-completed score and sundry "scraps of paper" with notes for the uncompleted sections. The widow Constanze, desperately needing the balance of the commission, persuaded Mozart's student Franz Xaver Süssmayr to complete the work.
What we now possess are Mozart's autograph in a substantially uncompleted state, and Süssmayr's work. What we lack are the scraps of paper, so it is now a matter of conjecture how much Süssmayr contributed to the remaining sections. It is generally held that the Sanctus and Agnus Dei are nearly entirely Süssmayr's, as he himself maintained, and as they are rather of inferior quality.
The details of this history are surprisingly engaging on an anecdotal level, and help to bring the unique character of this work into focus. It is widely held that Mozart came to believe during his final illness that he was now writing the Requiem for himself, which may account for its rare gravity and pathos. It is the only one of Mozart's works I can easily think of that is devoid of whimsy.
The musicological analysis is extremely illuminating, and I particularly benefited from Wolff's exposition of the relationship between the music and the text.
I did not spend much time with the last two sections, which are resources primarily provided for specialists. It's interesting to scan through the historical documents, though.
My purpose was to get inside the Requiem, and Wolff's book enabled me to do that. It was a pleasure to read.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews