Event

Mozart Requiem

Mozart's sublime Requiem was the last music he wrote before his untimely death at age 35. Commissioned by a mysterious patron whose identity was unknown to Mozart, during the course of the work's composition Mozart became gravely ill, and he seems to have realized that he was
writing his own Requiem. Never before, or, perhaps, since, have the words of the Latin Mass for the Dead been invested with such power, conviction, and variegated emotions.

The WCC's concert presents Mozart's masterpiece in the company of several related works, including a scene from "The Magic Flute" (which Mozart was working on when he received the commission to write the Requiem), and J. S. Bach's motet, "Jesu, meine Freude" (which influenced both "The Magic Flute" and the Requiem). Mozart's own motet, "Ave verum corpus," will open the program. By including all of these intertwined works, the WCC's performances will provide a rare opportunity to experience Mozart's well-known Requiem in a new light.

The Requiem itself will be heard in the re-orchestrated version by musicologist Franz Beyer, who retained the vocal parts completed by Mozart and his student Süssmayr while touching up Süssmayr's rather clumsy orchestration to make the work sound ultimately more "Mozartian." The overall form of the piece is left intact, but the revised orchestration brings Mozart's gripping music to life in a compelling new way.

Joining forces with the WCC on this concert are the UWWhitewater Chamber Singers and a fully professional orchestra made up of members of the Madison Symphony, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra.