Requiem by Mozart

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Psalm45_9

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The Introit of Mozart’s Requeim is very long. I wonder what did the people do durring this sequence? It doesn’t take that long for the priest to move to the pulpit? Perhaps my understanding of a sequence is off, can someone help clarify the sequence? I wish we still had them today.
 
Psalm,

On my recording of Von Karajan’s 1962 rendition (and Herbert was notorious for slow tempos), the Mozart Introit takes exactly six minutes. I also have some Gregorian introits done by the monks of St. Pierre de Solesmes (known for their fast tempos) that take over four minutes., and some of these same introits are even longer in the Cistercian mode. Verdi’s Requiem Introit lasts nine minutes.
 
This was on an earlier thread, but basically these larger masses by many later composers were written because it was a musical tradition rather than for actual use for liturgy (although it is possible).

Scott
 
Sorry, I meant the sequence. It has six parts, one is over six minutes long! They are: Dies irae, Tuba mirum, Rex tremendae, Recordare, Refutatis, and Lacrimosa. I was told the sequence was sung between the gospel reading and the homily. But this sequence together is very long. So he wrote this sequence for a requiem that was never celebrated? I read somewhere that this music was played at his own requiem, although he did not write it for himself.
 
Psalm,

Have you ever listened to a Gregorian requiem with the Dies Irae sung in its entirety? That takes quite a while too. In the monastic tradition the music is as much a part of the “message” as the verbal text. You’ll find some interesting historical information on it going back to the 6th century here:

solesmes.com/anglais/ang_solesmes.html
 
I guess I am prejudiced. I LOVE classical music, and the Mozart Requiem is one of my favorites in the literature. So also is the even longer Verdi Requiem (which I have performed the viola part in).

Really, though, these are concert pieces, and not really meant to be used in the liturgy (though I certainly would not object if they were used for my funeral!!)

The Gregorian Chant in the old Requiem liturgy is hard to beat, though.
 
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