After Mozart ’ s death , his widow Constanza was confronted with a dilemma . In order to be paid the other half of the commissioning fee , she had to deliver a completed score , and being also in serious financial hardship following the death of her husband , she searched for someone to complete the work for her . Mozart had only finished the vocal parts and continuo from the Introit to the Offertory , and the Lacrymosa ended after just eight bars . She finally persuaded Mozart ’ s 25-year-old pupil Franz Xaver Süssmayr to complete the score of the Requiem . Süssmayr knew Mozart well , and had been with Mozart during the creative process , and his handwriting was also very similar to Mozart ’ s . In fact it may well be that Süssmayr wrote down from dictation many of Mozart ’ s ideas for the work . Süssmayr was certainly not a composer of Mozart ’ s ability or genius , but he was skilled enough for the job to be done well . Apparently , Count Franz was delighted with the result , which suited his devious purposes admirably !
The work might not exist today were it not for the fact that Constanza broke the terms of the agreement and had the entire score copied out for her own safe keeping , in addition to the copy which was delivered to the Count . She also arranged a public benefit performance of the work , which further frustrated the Count ’ s plans .
In fact , it is because of Süssmayr ’ s considerable and skilled efforts that Mozart ’ s Requiem is so popular today , and that was our strong reason for recording this version of the work . Others have tried to reconstruct the work from Mozart ’ s original sketches , but none , in my opinion have succeeded as well as Süssmayr . Indeed , the Benedictus is arguably one of the finest movements , and surely one of which even Mozart would have been proud . especially in the trombone writing during choruses , but with judicious ‘ thinning out ’, the clarity of the music can shine through luminously , and one is easily convinced that we are listening to a work by Mozart . Süssmayr claimed that his work ( apart from the Sanctus and Agnus Dei ) was entirely based on Mozart ’ s own sketches and plans . There is no reason to doubt this , although some claim that the movements which Süssmayr composed do not have the idiomatically Mozartian lines and that they possess flaws in musical style and grammar that are foreign to Mozart ’ s idiom . The Sanctus has received some criticism in terms of orchestration , as has also the fact that the Hosanna is a rather truncated fugue rather than something more fully blown . Further , the fact that Süssmayr brought back the Hosanna fugue in a different key at the end of the Benedictus has come in for criticism . However , balance this with the sublime vocal writing for the soloists in the Benedictus and the ingenious way in which he has completed the Lacrymosa , ( none of the other versions do so more effectively than this ) and we see that Süssmayr did indeed do a fine job , and that if it were not for him , a potentially great work would have been lost , probably for ever .
We do hope that you will buy this disc and thoroughly enjoy it . Details on where you can purchase the CD are on page 32 .
This year ’ s Q News is packed full of activities that the Qs have undertaken this past year along with articles from OQs and the new Headmaster of Winchester College . See how all this compares with Q News from the 1930s which our archivist , Suzanne Foster , has kindly provided .
Malcolm Archer Director of Chapel Music
It is true that the Süssmayr completion does suffer from some over-scoring at times ,
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