Despite the Requiem for Mozart album title, the main attraction here is a work begun as early as 1776 and expanded and repurposed several times, including, in early 1792, a memorial service for Mozart in the city where he achieved some of his greatest triumphs. Those who argue for the historical authenticity of chamber-sized performances of Classical-era choral works should note the total forces of 120. Actually, it is interesting to contemplate what might have happened if the work had really been written as a requiem for ...
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Despite the Requiem for Mozart album title, the main attraction here is a work begun as early as 1776 and expanded and repurposed several times, including, in early 1792, a memorial service for Mozart in the city where he achieved some of his greatest triumphs. Those who argue for the historical authenticity of chamber-sized performances of Classical-era choral works should note the total forces of 120. Actually, it is interesting to contemplate what might have happened if the work had really been written as a requiem for Mozart, perhaps even with Mozart's own grim Requiem in D minor torso, K. 626, in mind. As the work stands now, it's an illustration of the breezy quality of so much sacred music of the late 18th century. If you've been surprised by the pleasantly unserious music of some of Haydn's and Mozart's masses (although certainly not the Requiem), sample the Sequence, the Dies Irae, on track 2 of this album; it's positively peppy. High points of the program includes some opera-type solos nicely...
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