Caleb Mitchum

Collegium Musicum, Writing Assignment 3

10/7/15

Mozart, W.A. Requiem, Lacrimosa dies ila (Edited by C.R.F. Maunder), K 626. Recording by
Christopher Hogwood, Chorus & Orchestra of the Academy of Ancient Music.
Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/track/3fp2odqHxxcYYbFxNaFn9k

Mozart, W.A. Requiem, Lacrimosa dies ila (As completed by Sussmayr), K 626. Recording by
John Eliot Gardiner, The Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists.
Spotify link: https://open.spotify.com/track/4ATc4is1rQb7PgKqtOdDnR

Ah! that day of tears and mourning!

From the dust of earth returning
man for judgment must prepare him;
Spare, O God, in mercy spare him!1

This is a poetic translation of the Lacrimosa text, which, being only just begun in

Mozarts hand in his Requiem, demanded finishing. Being a meditation on death, the Requiem

would be sorely incomplete without so foreboding a text being present. Alas, judgement has

certainly fallen on the man who first took up this task. Franz Xavier Sssmayrs completion of

this particular movement of Mozarts Requiem is perhaps the most well known and popular

section of the piece, but also quite maligned. The characteristic melody (which is actually

Mozarts own composition) has, in the modern day, been sampled by the likes of Evanescence,

Meek Mill, and Wacka Flocka Flame among many others.2 This movement seems to have a

particular resonance with audiences, as it seems that a good portion of listeners might be

familiar with its content without having any knowledge of its origins and contested nature.

Richard Maunder, however, finds Sssmayrs hugely popular realization lacking.

Christopher Hogwood presided over a recording of Maunders resetting of the

Lacrimosa, as well as the rest of the Requiem. This movements recording clocks in at two

minutes and eighteen seconds, however it is followed a full minute and a half of the amen

1This translation appears in the English Missal and also The Hymnal 1940 of the Episcopal
Church in the USA.
2http://www.whosampled.com/sample/25929/Evanescence-Lacrymosa-Wolfgang-Amadeus-
Mozart-Lacrimosa-Dies-Illa-From-Requiem-Mass,-K.-626/
fugue. The esteemed champion of historically informed interpretations, John Eliot Gardiner,

chooses to remain faithful to the Sssmayr score in his own recording of the Requiem, and thus

concludes just ten seconds shy of the three minute mark in his interpretation of the Lacrimosa,

with only a small amen before moving directly to the next movement. Alas, the differences

between the two amount to more than timings.

The primary difference between the two recordings is not in the essentially Mozartean

beginning; rather the discrepancies are end-weighted. Sssmayr, who was most likely aware of

Mozarts intent of ending the Lacrimosa with a fugal conclusion, chose instead to close with a

relatively simple and traditional amen, plagal cadence. Maunder, in his supposed reparation of

Mozarts intent, used fragmentary remains of Mozarts own sketches to construct the fugal amen

ending which Hogwood and his ensemble breathe life into.

In listening to the two exemplary recordings I found many similarities. Both lingered

around the same tempo; around 45 beats per minute to the quarter note. In the beginning of

each recording the most striking differences are subtly timbral. Hogwoods recording, though it

does involved period instruments, seems to have a more modern sound. Sssmayrs original

score, complimented by Gardiners historically informed instrumentation garner a somewhat

more vocally centric interpretation that I believe presents a more faithful rendering of the spirit of

the piece. The distinct lack of vibrato in Gardiners rendering is also appealing, if only in its

novelty.

Maunder and Hogwood make a very powerful decision in concluding the Lacrimosa with

a fugue, as might have originally been intended by Mozart. In one way this decision seems

historically appropriate, as the texts available to us seem to suggest that this was Mozarts

genuine intent. In another sense, Sssmayrs completion being the primordial and primarily

experiential source of the Requiem, defies this interpretation. Ultimately it seems that the

appropriateness of either interpretation seems to rely on reception history, which is a bramble of

interpretation in and of itself. Being only somewhat acquainted with the Requiem myself, I find

that I have strong preference for the piece as I came to know it; Sssmayrs rendering.

Certainly Maunders carefully constructed reproduction deserves recognition. His

seeking of an original Requiem is respectable, as few significant pieces of the repertoire

involve such spurious sources, and Hogwoods rendering of this edition is quite respectable in

quality. One cannot deny the well constructed content of Maunders academically informed

reconstruction. However, the implication does not change. Mozart did not finish the Requiem.

We will never have a truly finished version of Wolfgangs conception of the work, as such a

concept never existed. However, in Sssmayrs realization we have a text which is as closely

associated to the original composer as can be possible as far as practical time is concerned.

Gardiners faithful rendering of this score (according to Sssmayr) proves to be musically

compelling to myself and to a myriad of audience members before.

Perhaps Sssmayrs rendering is privileged simply because of proximity. Perhaps that

proximity to Mozart accords it cachet in both aesthetic and academic terms. Personally I find

Maunders version of the Lacrimosa to be lackadaisical and intellectualized in comparison to

Sssmayrs more empathetic interpretation. Sssmayr, in my opinion, captured the despondent

character of the text in his completion, whereas Maunder, though faithful to the evidential texts,

seemed purely academic and cold in comparison. Surely some of these feelings come from the

instrumental decisions made by the conductors of each recordings, but the chasm of difference

between Sssmayrs motivically integrated approach and Maunders historically faithful fugue

leave preference to the listener.