Verdi and Mozart, Writing masses with opera voices

Verdi and Mozart, Writing masses with opera voices

By Carl and Jack

Mozart’s Requiem Mass in D minor was one of Mozart’s last composition that he wrote, in fact it was not finished when Mozart died. Mozart started writing the piece in Vienna 1791 when he received a letter from an anonymous patron who commissioned him to write a mass (Gay, 152). He claimed that it would take him 4 weeks to complete the mass. It was later found out that the person who commission of the mass was the count Franz von Walseg. The count commissioned the requiem for his wife who had recently passed away. Although he had a reputation of taking commissioned work and claiming the composition of as his own, he let Mozart’s name be on the composition. When Mozart died on December 5th 1791, he had completed most of the mass. Franz Xaver Süssmayr would finish Mozarts composition.

MozartRequiemhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPlhKP0nZII

Verdi’s Messa da Requiem is a catholic funeral mass that was first performed on May 22nd 1874. Originally, the mass was meant to be in honor of the italian composer Gioachino Rossini who died in 1869. Twelve people including Verdi were to make a compilation mass in Rossini’s honor for the one year anniversary. Giuseppe wrote the ending movement called the Libera me and was organizing other composers to finish their sections of the requiem. But 8 days before the premiere the project was abandoned because the conductor left. It wasn’t until 1873 when Verdi’s friend Alessandro Manzoni died. It was after this that Verdi felt compelled to write the Messa da Requiem. 

Verdi’s requim https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PdcmFvZvuI

The mass requiem was known as the mass for the dead. The mass came from the catholic church and was offered in the context of a funeral. The reason that these mass requiems stand out from others the level of intensity and the operatic sound that comes from it. In a normal requiem the music is never reaches the intensity that both these accomplish so perfectly. When comparing both the requiems to the cantata, Carmina Burana, one can see that they can be very similar in their epic sounds. In both the piece, the Dies Irea are full of fire and fury as they proclaim the day of wrath. much like Carmina Burana, there is a massive choir that sings with an orchestra and some soloist singers to tie it together. At the beginning of Requiem, the DIes Irea starts with four loud ‘Booms’ from the orchestra and then is joined by the choir in a loud proclamation, only to be followed by fire in the strings as they race down to lower note only to repeat the beginning. But this time there is the big epic bass drum that is struck between each loud ‘Boom’ creating a feeling of sheer power and the wrath of God (here is a direct link to the Dies Irea https://youtu.be/up0t2ZDfX7E ). Mozart’s Dies Irea start’s in almost the same way, with the epic sound of the choir and orchestra. With the more hidden ‘Booms’, the choir sings minor melodic melodies while the rest of the orchestra is providing a sense of being fire to fill the gaps of the choir (here is a link to Mozart’s Dies Irea https://youtu.be/1Tb9HmlPuVI ). Both pieces are so rich, but why do they sound more appropriate for the concert hall then the cathedral?

The reason that one could say that these requiem’s have an operatic style to them is because the composers were excellent at writing operas. Both composers have a long history writing very lyrical music and writing operas. Also the fact that Verdi was not religious at all makes it even more understandable in the fact that he might not even know how to start working on a mass. With Mozart, he didn’t even finish his requiem before he died. It makes one wonder if they did write these masses for the church or for the performance hall? On one hand they are very melodic and operatic, but they follow the standard tradition of writing a mass. Did they intend this for the concert hall after the premier in the church so that they could get money to support their life or possibly to just for experimenting in a different style of music? Either way, both pieces are well known and some of the most powerful music known to man.

Works Cited

Alsop, Marin. "Verdi's Requiem: An Opera In Disguise." NPR. NPR, 6 June 2011. Web. 23 Nov. 2015. <http://www.npr.org/2011/06/04/136928271/verdis-requiem-an-opera-in-disguise>.

Gay, Peter. Mozart. New York: Lipper/Viking Book, 1999. Print.

"Giuseppe Verdi." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 07 Nov. 2015. Web. 23 Nov. 2015. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Verdi>.

"Requiem." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Nov. 2015. Web. 23 Nov. 2015. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Requiem>.

Schwarm, Bettsy. "Requiem in D Minor, K 626 | Mass by Mozart." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 24 Apr. 2015. Web. 23 Nov. 2015. <http://www.britannica.com/topic/Requiem-in-D-Minor>.

Work Divided:

Carl: Speculation, History

Jack: History, Pictures