This is the pivotal scene in Milos Forman's Best Picture Film "Amadeus," where Mozart is shown lying on his deathbed, dictating the Confutatis Maledictus of his Requiem in D Minor to Antonio Salieri. Of course, and perhaps unfortunately, the true story of the requiem is far less romantic, and there is no evidence that Salieri had any hand whatsoever in its creation (a myth started by Alexander pushkin in his play "Mozart and Salieri", continued in an opera by Rimsky-Korsakov and Peter Shaffer's play "Amadeus" which was the basis for the movie). However, what IS true, is that Mozart died when only about 37% of what we call "his" Requiem was complete. The 14 movements of any requiem are as follows (including "Mozart's" orchestration in parenthesis):
* I. Introitus: Requiem aeternam (Choir and Soprano solo)
* II. Kyrie eleison (Choir)
* III. Sequentia:
o Dies irae (Choir)
o Tuba mirum (Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass Solo)
o Rex tremendae majestatis (Choir)
o Recordare, Jesu pie (Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass Solo)
o Confutatis maledictis (Choir)
o Lacrimosa dies illa (Choir)
* IV. Offertorium:
o Domine Jesu Christe (Choir with Solo Quartet)
o Versus: Hostias et preces (Choir)
* V. Sanctus:
o Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth (Choir)
o Benedictus (Solo Quartet then Choir)
* VI. Agnus Dei (Choir)
* VII. Communio:
o Lux aeterna (Soprano solo and Choir)
The mystery surrounding the commission of the work, and the subjectivity of Mozart's wife (who still hoped to get the complete payment) allows for differing versions on the extent of Mozart's completion. According to some, Mozart had fully completed and orchestrated only the first movement. From the Kyrie Eleison through the six movements of the Sequentia (including the Confutatis Maledictus) he had completed only the vocal parts and the continuo, with some indication for orchestral parts in certain movements (such as the violin parts in the Confutatis).
This left the last six movements, as well as the Lacrimosa, which only had eight bars at the time of his death, to be completed by other composers. Constanza Mozart, eager to claim the full commission from Count von Walsegg, had composer Joseph von Eybler look at the unfinished work. Eybler worked on the Dies Irae through the Lacrimosa, working from the material left from Mozart, but found it futile to go on where Mozart hadn't left anything. Composer Franz Xaver Süssmeyer, who was perhaps the real man who sat by Mozart's bed and took dictation, completed the Requiem. The Requiem has gone on to extensive fame as a piece Mozart may have known he was writing for his own death. The version completed by Süssmeyer was played at the funerals of both Haydn and Frederick Chopin, masters of composition in their own rights.
But forget the story for a moment, and let's listen to the music. Below is a version of the Confutatis (and Lacrimosa, from 2:17 on, which I won't comment on) done by John Eliot Gardiner conducting the English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Choir. This performance was filmed at the Palau de la Musica Catalana, Barcelona in Dec. 1991. The words for this movement are particularly ominous when considering Mozart was on his deathbed when writing this music:
CONFUTATIS
Confutatis maledictis,
When the damned are cast away
Flammis acribus addictis,
and consigned to the searing flames,
Voca me cum benedictus.
call me to be with the blessed.
Oro supplex et acclinis,
Bowed down in supplication I beseech Thee,
Cor contritum quasi cinis:
my heart as though ground to ashes:
Gere curam mei finis.
Help me in my final hour.
Immediately obvious is the quick tempo. When I first found this version and some others, the opening felt almost too slow to me, especially if you view the entire beginning as one long phrase until the cadence at 00:15. This seems to be the common approach taken by most interpreters, the feeling of a flurry of strings backing a vocal line that slowly climbs in one long phrase through a mini-fugue to the cadence.
Now listen to the opening of the Confutatis performed by Nicholas Harnoncourt with the Concentus Musicus Wien and the Arnold Schönberg Choir (hit the HD button if possible, the sound quality is much improved!).
This is much, much more ominous. The choir is much more punctuated, far less legato than the Gardiner performance, the tempo slower, the sound overall much more raw and gritty. The indications given by the two performances in the very beginning phrase continue throughout both recordings. Gardiner continues to be generally more legato in articulation and uses longer phrasing, while Harnoncourt permits a grittier, but more strictly articulated sound. To me, the difference is one of perspective: Gardiner is doing no wrong by conducting the movement as part of a Requiem, which in the Roman Catholic tradition is designed to "pray for the souls of the departed." But Harnoncourt has taken it a step further and realized that it is Mozart's own soul that the music prays for. Gardiner's performance says, "someone is dying," while Harnoncourt's says, "I am dying."Harnoncourt infuses the music with the drama of the scene from "Amadeus", which may be, remember, rather false.
So then is either correct? Gardiner sounds to me like the diligent student of the classical sound: he carefully stitches together long phrases out of small two bar phrases. His version then is probably much more practical and historically accurate, a sense of distance from the gritty reality of Mozart's impending death, an aloof sense of ceremony that is complicit with the grand dress, balls, wigs, and manner of the times. This is perhaps the music as Mozart would have heard it in his head (for he never heard any part of the Requiem performed).
Harnoncourt then takes a much more emotional approach that in some ways ignores the classical tradition of performance. In his version, phrases are more separated; dynamics and tempo are much more free to follow the emotional quality of the music. For another analogy, Gardiner paints a picture of a man dying, while Harnoncourt tries to put you in his shoes. In terms of liturature, I find Gardiner's to be 3rd person, while Harnoncourt's is 1st person. This kind of abrupt violence, if you will, is not in line with our perception of classical performance of Mozart's work, but brings forth depth of sadness and fear that is glossed over in the Gardiner version.
Then both are correct: Gardiner's in terms of period phrasing and a measure of emotional detachment, and Harnoncourt's in the gritty emotional state of a dying composer. I definitely have a favorite (hint: Harnoncourt and the Concentus Musicus Wien also has a mind-opening version of Vivaldi's Four Seasons that everyone should hear!), but what do you think?
ClassicalMusicGuide (Youtube user). May 20th 2007. John Eliot Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists, Monteverdi Choir.
Florian (Youtube user Nachtmarchen). August 14th 2008. Nicholaus Harnoncourt, Cencentus Musicus Wein, Arnold Schönberg Choir.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Requiem_(Mozart)
Pushkin, Alexander. "Mozart and Salieri". Translation by Alan Shaw. 1984.
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