co-organiser: Museum of Warsaw

At the time of Mozart's death on 5 December 1791 the unfinished manuscript of his last composition, Requiem, which would later achieve legendary status (it was commissioned anonymously by an eccentric aristocrat by the name of Count Franz von Walsegg-Stuppach, who intended to ascribe its authorship to himself) comprised three of the five originally planned movements: an introit Requiem aeternam together with the double fugue Kyrie, a poignant sequence Dies irae, evoking a dreadful vision of the Last Judgement (this movement broke after eight bars of the final section Lacrimosa), and an offertory Domine Jesu Christe (together with Hostias) with only two vocal parts and the part of the figured bass fully completed. Only the introit was finished together with the orchestral part; while in the remaining movements Mozart had only sketched the outline of the parts of individual instruments. After Mozart's death, his wife Constance asked his pupils and friends for help and it was Franz Xaver Süßmayr who eventually finished the piece. The latter also composed from scratch the missing movements - Sanctus/Benedictus, Agnus Dei, and the final communio Lux aeterna, in which he used the musical material of the introit and Kyrie. From then on, the work took on a life of its own, becoming the subject of myths and legends and inspiring no end of speculation regarding its genesis, authenticity and the question of what proportion of the work in its final version can be attributed to the hand of Mozart and what was due to the efforts of other authors. It also served as the canvas for numerous new arrangements and various proposals regarding the instrumentation of the missing parts.

Piotr Maculewicz