Mozart Requiem Essay

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Mozart Requiem Mozart’s last composition, Requiem Mass in D minor (K626), was unfinished at the time of his death in 1791. The composer had finished the majority of the vocal parts, sketched accompaniment ideas throughout, and made note, whether by word of mouth or notation in the score, of his ideas about the finish of the piece. Regardless of exact extent to which Mozart completed the mass or who finished which sections and for what reason, the Requiem stands as an example of Mozart’s ability to synthesize the stile antico traditions popular in Austrian sacred music of his time with fresh compositional ideas in the grand mass style. Stile antico, sometimes called the Palestrina style, emphasizes modal tendencies, formal structure, strict counterpoint, and the importance of vocal music over instrumental. The Requiem is set in D minor giving it a modal feel. These specific D minor sections of the mass provide a larger framework for the piece. The mass follows the normal compositional practices of Salzburg and Vienna at the time. The voices always remain central to the piece and a fugue ends each of the five major sections. Mozart saw fit to complete his choral parts for the Requiem first. They are therefore its foundation. The choral writing is compact and the melody is usually assigned to the top voice. There are no purely solo vocal movements in the mass, and virtuosity is not demanded of the singers though the choral parts are at times technically difficult. When solo sections occur, they are followed with choral ripieno standard to the period. Mozart uses cantabile, imitative, homophonic, and fugual choral textures that could be easily categorized as Handelian. The Requiem also contains examples of the new style of music that Mozart and his contemporaries creating. He combines huge stile antico contrapuntal statements with
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