Mortalities - W. A. Mozarts Requiem & J. M. Haydn

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:
Masonic Funeral Music, KV 479a
Misericordias Domini KV 222
Requiem in d minor KV 626

Johann Michael Haydn:
Christus factus est, Tenebrae facte sunt, Nos autem gloriari oportet

Ekaterina Krasko, soprano
Collegium Vocale Salzburg with its soloists| Michael Schneider, choir master
L’Orfeo Barockorchester
Michi Gaigg, conductor

Reverence for the deceased hasn’t exactly been a common virtue in music history. No sooner did a composer leave a work unfinished than the volunteers emerged to pay their respect. Few composers were as canny as Johannes Brahms who burnt every unfinished work. Many works were left unfinished: Bach’s Art of the Fugue, Schubert’s symphonic fragments… the list is endless, but one work will always have a distinguished position:

Mozart ‘s Requiem. Many myths developed around this awesome „mortality music “. Tragically it became Mozart’s own swan song. The historical origin of the Masonic Funeral Music is an equal flurry of speculation. Was it indeed intended for the Freemasons, or should it be regarded as church music?

Two works are added to the programme in Salzburg, setting the concert in the context of Passiontide: the Misericordias Domini KV 222, a contrapuntal showpiece by the young Mozart combining polyphony with expressive harmony, and a highly emotional a capella work by Johann Michael Haydn.