You may have heard that Mozart wrote his own funeral music as he lay dying. The real mozart requiem story is more interesting: he left it unfinished, and others completed it.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Mozart’s death | 5 December 1791 |
| Commissioner | Count Franz von Walsegg |
| Movement finished and orchestrated by Mozart | The Introit |
| Completed by | Franz Xaver Süssmayr (after Joseph Eybler) |
| First complete performance of Süssmayr’s version | 2 January 1793 |
| Estimated duration | 50 minutes |
Details come from Wikipedia’s article on the Requiem and the Bozeman Symphony program notes. Scholarly details can change, so check those sources before you rely on the figures.
How the commission began
In the summer of 1791, Count Franz Walsegg von Stuppach sent a messenger to Mozart with an anonymous commission for a requiem honouring the count’s late wife. The Bozeman notes add that Walsegg was an amateur musician who liked to commission works from famous composers and pass them off as his own.
His wife Anna had died at the age of 20 on 14 February 1791. A completed score was delivered for a service on 14 February 1792, the first anniversary of her death.
The famous “mysterious stranger” is not a neutral detail. According to Wikipedia, Mozart’s widow Constanze was responsible for a number of the stories around the work, including the unnamed messenger and the idea that Mozart believed he was writing the Requiem for his own funeral.
Walsegg’s plan and why it matters to the Mozart Requiem story
Wikipedia says Walsegg probably intended to pass the Requiem off as his own composition, as he is known to have done with other works. That habit explains why the commission came through a messenger and not in the count’s own name.
The same page adds that this plan was frustrated by a public benefit performance for Mozart’s widow Constanze. Once the music was heard in public, it was no longer a private piece that could easily be claimed as someone else’s.
This is a useful reminder when you read dramatic accounts of the Requiem. The anonymity had an ordinary explanation in a patron’s vanity, and you do not need a ghostly visitor to account for it.
What Mozart actually left behind
Mozart composed part of the Requiem in late 1791 but died on 5 December that year. His surviving manuscript shows the Introit finished and orchestrated in his own hand, plus detailed drafts of several other parts.
- The Introit, complete and orchestrated.
- Detailed drafts of the Kyrie.
- The Sequence, including the first eight bars of the Lacrimosa.
- The Offertorium, in draft.
Everything else, including the Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei, was missing from the manuscript. That gap is why the work needed a completer.
Eybler, Süssmayr and the finished score
Constanze faced a mountain of debt and asked Süssmayr, one of Mozart’s students, to complete the remaining sections. Wikipedia names Joseph Eybler as the first to fill in the gaps, with Süssmayr then taking over.
Wikipedia says that Süssmayr made a clean copy of the completed parts for Walsegg, imitating Mozart’s handwriting but clumsily dating it “1792.” The deception hid how much of the music was not Mozart’s.
Süssmayr used unfinished sketches and possibly ideas discussed with Mozart to compose the Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei. In the Communio, he repeats music Mozart had used in the Introit and Kyrie.
Fact or legend?
Some claims are well supported, while others come mostly from Constanze. Süssmayr used unfinished sketches and possibly ideas discussed with Mozart, so how much of the later movements is Mozart’s idea is uncertain.
- Fact: the Requiem was left unfinished at Mozart’s death.
- Fact: Walsegg was the anonymous patron.
- Doubtful: the mysterious messenger as a supernatural omen, and Mozart composing for his own funeral.
- Unprovable: exactly what Mozart told his pupils about the missing movements.
The first complete performance of Süssmayr’s version took place on 2 January 1793 in the Jahn-Saal in Vienna, as the Bozeman program notes record.
Missing pages and the Amen fugue
Two loose threads keep scholars busy. The first is an Amen fugue: Wikipedia says Mozart may have intended to include it at the end of the Sequentia, but Süssmayr did not do so in his completion.
The discovery of a fragmentary Amen fugue in Mozart’s hand has led to speculation that it may have been intended for the Requiem.
The second thread is a lost page. A portion of the manuscript has been missing since it was stolen at the 1958 Expo 58 world’s fair in Brussels by an unknown thief.
So that portion of the manuscript is no longer available for study. Readers who want the strongest picture of the work use the surviving manuscript, early copies and later scholarship together.
Modern completions and where the Requiem fits
Because Süssmayr’s additions are debated, newer editions try other solutions. Wikipedia notes that many modern completions, such as Levin’s, complete Mozart’s Lacrimosa fragment.
Mozart wrote in the Classical era, which you can place in context with this overview of classical music periods. Another famous work with a dramatic backstory is covered in the beethoven ninth symphony history article. If you enjoy Mozart’s chamber music, read what is a string quartet next.
Listening with the story in mind
Knowing who wrote what changes how you hear the work. The opening Introit is the one movement Mozart finished and orchestrated himself, so it is the clearest window onto his intentions.
As you move on, the music gradually passes from detailed drafts to later additions. You can use this short listening plan:
- Start with the Introit, completed in Mozart’s own hand.
- Move to the Kyrie and the Sequence, which survive as detailed drafts.
- Listen for the first eight bars of the Lacrimosa, the point where Mozart’s manuscript stops in that movement.
- Finish with the Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei, which Süssmayr composed using sketches and possibly remembered ideas.
- Notice the Communio, where Süssmayr repeats music Mozart had used earlier.
The best way to hold the whole story in your head is to treat the Requiem as a collaboration across time. A patron’s secret, a widow’s urgent need and a student’s labour all shaped the score you hear in the concert hall today.
Compare more than one recording if you can. Performers choose different completions, so the same movement may sound noticeably different from one disc to the next.
Frequently asked questions
Did Mozart finish his Requiem?
Show answer
No. He died on 5 December 1791, and Eybler and Süssmayr filled in the rest.
Who commissioned the Requiem?
Show answer
Count Franz von Walsegg, who wanted a requiem for his late wife and often passed off commissioned works as his own.
Did Walsegg get to pass the Requiem off as his own?
Show answer
Probably not. Wikipedia says his likely plan was frustrated by a public benefit performance for Constanze, which made the music publicly known.
Is the Lacrimosa all by Mozart?
Show answer
No. Mozart’s manuscript includes only the first eight bars of it, and many modern completions, such as Levin’s, finish that fragment in their own way.
How long is the Requiem?
Show answer
The Bozeman Symphony notes give an estimated duration of 50 minutes.
