CHAPTER 32
Mourning a Hero: Mozart and the Requiem
OVERVIEW
Chapter 32 shows Mozart’s Requiem to illustrate the state of sacred music at the end of the
Classical era. Mozart’s setting of the Dies irae in the Requiem exemplifies this dramatic and
powerful choral masterpiece and its profound impact on audiences since the eighteenth century.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. To understand sacred music at the end of the Classical era as being marked by expanded
orchestral and choral forces with a focus on the genres of oratorio and mass, as embodied in
the Dies irae from Mozart’s Requiem
2. To understand the unique biographical and apocryphal circumstances surrounding the
composition and reception of Mozart’s Requiem
LECTURE SUGGESTIONS
1. Review the chorale fugue from Bach’s cantata Wachet auf (Chapter 19). Play the Dies irae
from Mozart’s Requiem and ask the class to note the stylistic differences between these two
choral works. Students should identify the larger number of performers, the lack of
polyphony, and the absence of cantus-firmus technique in the Dies irae. Emphasize these
differences as representative of the shift from Baroque to Classical choral music.
2. Before playing the entire Dies irae, have the students form small groups and instruct them
to note how Mozart’s compositional approach is informed by the text. How does the text
provide cues for Mozart’s decisions to change textures, rhythm and meter, dynamics,
instrumentation, writing for chorus and soloists, and mode (major/minor)? After playing the
excerpt, allow the groups five to ten minutes to discuss their observations and have them
report to the class.
ASSIGNMENT SUGGESTIONS
1. As the textbook notes, the events surrounding Mozart’s composition of the Requiem (left
unfinished) and his death have inspired tales that have become the basis of plays, movies,
and even operas. The story that a rival composer, Antonio Salieri, poisoned Mozart out of
jealousy is one of the most enduring. The Russian author Alexander Pushkin turned this
legend into a short play in 1830. The play was followed by other spinoffs, most notably the
1984 movie based on Peter Shaffer’s play Amadeus. Does knowing that the Salieri stories
are not corroborated by historical facts change your relationship to Mozart and his music,
including the Requiem? Suppose you were not familiar with the Salieri myths before you
read this chapter. Why do you think the composition of the Requiem attracted such a
pervasive mythology about the people and circumstances involved? Do you think Mozart’s
historical reputation would be different if had he lived to old age? Do you think that Mozart
is remembered more for the dramatized version of the end of his short life than for the
music he composed? Why?
TEACHING CHALLENGES
Student perception of Mozart and the Requiem may be informed by the very myths introduced in
this chapter, most likely if students have seen the movie Amadeus. Rather than dismissing these
ideas as romanticized fiction, start a conversation in your class about the power and function of
myth. This approach may also extend to Beethoven and his larger-than-life portrayals in books
and movies.
SUPPLEMENTAL REPERTORY
Mozart: Ave verum corpus, K. 618
Cherubini: Requiem in C Minor
SUPPLEMENTAL BIBLIOGRAPHY
Landon, H. C. Robbins. 1791: Mozart’s Last Year. New York: Schirmer Books, 1988. Robbins
Landon places the Requiem in context with Mozart’s other works of 1791, his illness, his
death, and subsequent mythology.
Wolff, Christoph. Mozart’s Requiem: Historical and Analytical Studies, Documents, Score.
Translated by Mary Whittall. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press,
1994. An authoritative account of the genesis, composition, and reception of this
monumental work. Part 1 (“Historical Perspectives”) includes a summation of the legends
surrounding its composition; Part 3 (“Contemporary Documents”) offers a history of its early
reception.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Mourning a Hero: Mozart and the Requiem (Chapter 32)
I. Sacred Music in the Classical Era
A. Choral music: Mass, Requiem Mass (Mass for the Dead), oratorio
1. Baroque era: performed in Church
2. Classical era: moved to concert hall
B. Mozart’s Requiem
1. Mozart’s last large-scale composition
a. symbolic of the tragedy of his premature death
b. left incomplete: completed by Mozart’s pupil, Franz Xaver Süssmayr
2. four vocal soloists, four-part chorus, and orchestra
a. extended use of low winds and brass
3. Dies irae (“Day of Wrath”)
a. Thirteenth-century rhymed Latin poem
b. vision of Judgment Day
c. attributed to Mozart
4. widely recognized
a. performed at President John F. Kennedy’s funeral, 1963
b. global performance, September 11 one-year anniversary, 2002
C. Listening Guide 21: Mozart, Dies irae, from Requiem (1791)
1. verse 1: full chorus and orchestra, homophonic
2. verse 2: chorus and orchestra, polyphonic
a. Quantus tremor est futurus (“How great a tremor there will be”): word-painting
3. verse 3: trombone solo, bass solo
a. Tuba mirum spargens sonum (“A trumpet with an astonishing sound”)
4. verse 4: tenor solo, homophonic orchestral accompaniment
5. verse 5: tenor solo continues
6. verse 6: alto solo with orchestra
7. verse 7: soprano solo with orchestra; last line repeated, solo quartet
8. verse 8: full chorus setting, dramatic
a. Rex tremendae majestatis! (“King of tremendous majesty”): dotted rhythms,
syncopated chords
b. Salva me, fons pietatis! (“Save me, fount of piety”): last line sung softly
Part 4: Classroom-Ready Activity 1
ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION
This group activity explores how Mozart’s music depicts the characters and drama of Don
Giovanni. Students will draw from their knowledge of seria and buffa elements as well as the
musical elements explored in Part 1.
INSTRUCTIONS
Have the class form groups of three to five students and hand out the accompanying
worksheets. Before playing Act I, scene 2 of Don Giovanni, review the characters and the
scenario and ask the class to note the stylistic differences in the music for Leporello, Donna
Elvira, and Don Giovanni. Given the roles of these characters and the situation they are now in,
how does Mozart use musical elements (as outlined on the worksheet) to express the nature of
the scene? How does the music cue a comic/serious event or character? What role does the
orchestra play? Are the instrumentalists simply providing background music? Or are they also
participating in the events that are unfolding?
Student Worksheet
Name:
Don Giovanni, Act I, scene 2
ARIA (Donna Elvira, with Don Giovanni and Leporello): “A chi mi dice mai”
Donna Elvira:
Melody (contour, range):
Rhythm (meter, tempo)/Dynamics:
Harmony (major, minor)/Texture:
Relationship to character/Comic and serious elements:
Don Giovanni:
Melody (contour, range):
Rhythm (meter, tempo)/Dynamics:
Harmony (major, minor)/Texture:
Relationship to character/Comic and serious elements:
Leporello:
Melody (contour, range):
Rhythm (meter, tempo)/Dynamics:
Harmony (major, minor)/Texture:
Relationship to character/Comic and serious elements:
Orchestra:
Timbre/Instruments:
Rhythm (meter, tempo)/Dynamics:
Harmony (major, minor)/Texture:
Relationship to scene/Comic and serious elements:
RECITATIVE (Donna Elvira, Don Giovanni, and Leporello): Chi è là?
Donna Elvira:
Melody (contour, range):
Rhythm (meter, tempo)/Dynamics:
Harmony (major, minor)/Texture:
Relationship to character/Comic and serious elements:
Don Giovanni:
Melody (contour, range):
Rhythm (meter, tempo)/Dynamics:
Harmony (major, minor)/Texture:
Relationship to character/Comic and serious elements:
Leporello:
Melody (contour, range):
Rhythm (meter, tempo)/Dynamics:
Harmony (major, minor)/Texture:
Relationship to character/Comic and serious elements:
Orchestra:
Timbre/Instruments:
Rhythm (meter, tempo)/Dynamics:
Harmony (major, minor)/Texture:
Relationship to scene/Comic and serious elements:
ARIA (Leporello): “Madamina!”
Leporello:
Melody (contour, range):
Rhythm (meter, tempo)/Dynamics:
Harmony (major, minor)/Texture:
Relationship to character/Comic and serious elements:
Orchestra: