Salzburg 27-I-1756 - Vienna 5-XII-1791
Son of Leopold, an excellent violinist and vice-chapel master at the court of the Archbishop of Salzburg, as well as a composer and author of a valuable treatise for violin, his father himself valued the prodigious musical talents of the boy, who at the age of six already held concerts as a harpsichordist at the courts of Munich and Vienna. In 1763, a new tour took him through numerous German centers to the courts of Paris and London. This trip, which brought the young Wolfgang into contact with the greatest names in the musical world of the time, was to be decisive for his education. In 1966, he returned to Salzburg, and from then on, his trips to Vienna were commonplace, where he became acquainted with the music of Gluck, Haydn, and others.
In 1769, he left with his father for Italy, giving concerts in all the major cities: Verona, Milan, Bologna (where he met Padre Martini), Rome, and Naples. In 1771, he returned to Salzburg, where the new archbishop, Geronimo di Colloredo, hired him in 1772 to join the orchestra with a regular salary. In the same year, he was allowed a new trip to Milan, where he performed a new opera and met Paisiello. From 1773 to 1777, he lived in Salzburg. However, in that year, he broke with the archbishop and embarked on a tour with his mother to Munich, Mannheim (where contacts with the local school were of considerable importance to him), and Paris. He remained here until the end of 1778 (the year his mother died), much sought after and appreciated as a composer and concert performer. In 1779, he returned to his hometown, where he was appointed court organist. In 1781, he finally freed himself from the yoke of the archbishop and settled in Vienna, where he married Constanze Weber in 1782, despite his father's opposition. In Vienna, he formed friendships with the most outstanding musicians and writers, joined the Freemasonry, and won over the Viennese with his German works. From 1784 to 1787, he experienced his most serene years, during which his production was sought after and appreciated. On two occasions, he traveled to Prague, where he found an environment particularly favorable to his music. In 1787, he was appointed "chamber musician" to the emperor, and in 1789, he went to Berlin and Dresden, where he was applauded as a concert pianist. After the death of Joseph II, his successor, Leopold II, proved much more lukewarm towards music, so much so that Mozart lost all support from the court. He once again staged La Clemenza di Tito in Prague, composed for the coronation of the new emperor. However, in 1791, he died in poverty for unspecified reasons and was buried in a common grave.
Requiem in D minor for soloists, choir, and orchestra, K 626
Requiem - soprano and choir - Adagio (D minor)
Kyrie - choir - Allegro (D minor)
Dies irae - choir - Allegro assai (D minor) sketch
Tuba mirum - soli - Andante (B flat major) sketch
Rex tremendae - choir - Grave (G minor) sketch
Recordare - choir - Andante (D minor) sketch
Confutatis - choir - Andante (A minor) sketch
Lacrimosa - choir - Larghetto (D minor) sketch
Domine Jesu - soli and choir - Andante con moto (G minor) sketch
Hostias - choir - Andante (E flat major). Andante con moto (G minor) sketch
Sanctus - chorus - Adagio (D major) added
Osanna - chorus - Allegro (D major) added
Benedictus - soli - Andante (B flat major) added
Osanna - chorus - Allegro (B flat major) added
Agnus Dei - chorus - ... (D minor) added
Lux aeterna - soprano and chorus - ... (D minor). Allegro. Adagio
When Count Franz von Walsegg zu Stuppach, an aspiring composer, decided to celebrate the anniversary of his wife's death on 14 February 1791, he chose to commission a Requiem from Mozart that he would later pass off as his own. The financial proposal was good, and the composer, who at that time needed money to finance his substantial expenditure, accepted. However, 1791 was a year full of commitments for Mozart that he had to face quickly. Thus, the Requiem was completed up to the second piece, broadly sketched out, and then left among the papers inherited by Constanze after her husband's death in December 1791. Among those papers was found evidence that the composer knew the person who commissioned it. Likely, Mozart did not inform his wife about that unusual commission. It was good that no one in Vienna should have heard of it, but that he, whose secret had been bought, did not know about it and that he was being commissioned for a work by a mysterious man is frankly improbable. Returning to the Requiem, the reason for such carelessness in completing it must therefore be attributed to pressing commitments, but we must not overlook the annoyance that Mozart, a man who was rightly proud and with a great sense of personal dignity, felt for Walsegg's gesture and for the Requiem itself. And yet, this work, thanks also to Constanze's excellent propaganda efforts, has become one of the major vehicles of Mozart's fame immediately after his death. In the last years of the eighteenth century, it had numerous performances in various cities, first in Germany and then throughout Europe, and was often chosen to commemorate the deaths of notable personalities.
In this sacred composition, Romanticism immediately found its voice again, and the Requiem, which fueled the anecdotes, also entirely Romantic, of the tragic death and its soundtrack, has become one of Mozart's most famous and performed creations to our times. The work was completed by Franz Xaver Süssmayr, a pupil of the composer and a family friend, with the help of others and on commission from Constanze, who delivered the score to the count's representative about two months after her husband's death, passing it off as authentic. In any case, Constanze, who had sensed the deal in terms of image and money, kept a copy for herself and initially tried to convince people that the Requiem was indeed authentic. Mozart, on the other hand, had completed only the first two pieces (Introitus, Kyrie, and part of the Dies Irae) and had left notes, more or less substantial up to the Hostias, with which to develop the following parts.
Walsegg conducted the score at his disposal on 14 December 1793, then conducted it again, using it for the purpose for which he had commissioned it, on 14 February 1794, in the church of Neukloster in Wiener Neustadt, a town where he was count. However, when he learned that Constanze had already had his score performed for her benefit on 2 January 1793 in Vienna, he decided to let it go for the future. However, a few years later, when he learned that the Requiem was about to be published, he attempted to request a large refund for the fraud that had been perpetrated against him. He had done the same thing with money, but in a more subtle way.