Vocal · Requiem · D minor · K. 626 · 1791

Requiem in D minor, K.626

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Mozart's final, unfinished work, a setting of the Latin funeral mass, completed by others after his death and beloved for its blend of drama and consolation.

What to listen for

The Requiem unfolds as a sequence of short, contrasting movements rather than one continuous sweep. Introitus opens with somber, muffled orchestral color and the choir's hushed plea for eternal rest, soon lifted by a solo soprano. The Kyrie that follows is a tight, urgent fugue, voices chasing one another in overlapping entries. The Dies irae bursts in suddenly, a stormy vision of judgment day with hammering strings and shouting choir, and this same nervous energy returns across several of the following short movements, including the trumpet call of the Tuba mirum, introduced by a solemn bass solo, and the pleading Rex tremendae. The Recordare and Confutatis alternate tenderness and terror, voices asking for mercy while the orchestra seems to depict flames. Then comes the Lacrimosa, the last music Mozart himself wrote before his death, an aching, slow-building lament that many listeners recognize even before hearing the whole work. After this the completions by other hands continue: the Offertorium's two contrasting sections, the reverent Sanctus and Benedictus, and the Agnus Dei's quiet resignation, before the choir returns to the opening music one last time for Communio, closing the circle.

The story

Mozart was working on this mass for the dead in the autumn of 1791, commissioned anonymously by a nobleman who wanted to pass it off as his own composition. Mozart died in Vienna in December 1791 with the score incomplete, having fully composed only the opening movement and sketched vocal parts and bass lines for much of what followed. His widow Constanze, needing the commission fee, arranged for completion by Mozart's students, chiefly Franz Xaver Süssmayr, who filled out the orchestration and composed the closing sections using material Mozart had left behind. The finished work was delivered as if entirely Mozart's, and this arrangement, along with uncertainty over exactly how much is Mozart's own hand, has fueled debate ever since. Despite the unresolved authorship of its final pages, the Requiem became one of the most performed choral works in the repertoire, prized for the intensity of its dramatic movements and the tenderness of its closing prayers.

First time hearing it?

Runs about 50 to 55 minutes, performed without intermission though movements pause briefly between sections.
Features four vocal soloists plus a full chorus alongside the orchestra, so listen for the shifting balance between soloists and massed voices.
The famous Lacrimosa arrives roughly two-thirds through, a slow, rising lament worth waiting for.
Some of the concluding music was completed by Mozart's student after his death, so the ending differs in character from the tense drama earlier.
No staging or special effects; this is a concert work for chorus, soloists, and orchestra performed seated.

Written by OrchestraFinder, reviewed September 2026.