Mozart: Requiem in D Minor, K. 626

Featuring

Teodor Currentzis
Simone Kermes
Stephanie Houtzeel
Markus Brutscher
Arnaud Richard
MusicAeterna

The New Siberian Singers
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

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Recording & Production

This recording of Mozart's Requiem was made in February 2010 at the Opera of Novosibirsk, Russia.

Composition History

Mozart's Requiem was commissioned by Count Walsegg, who intended to present it as his own work in memory of his deceased wife.

Composition History

Franz Xaver Süssmayr, a pupil of Mozart, completed the Requiem after Mozart's death, with the help of Mozart's last-minute instructions or notes from his widow, Constanze.

Composer Biography

At the time of the Requiem commission, Mozart was a famous composer who had recently been appointed Kapellmeister designate at St Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna.

Composition History

Mozart's sudden death at age 35 in December 1791 left the Requiem unfinished, with only about half of the work completed by him.

Compositional Technique

The key of D minor, used in the Requiem, held strong symbolic meaning for Mozart, supporting tragic moments in his works where man confronts the divine and questions life and death.