Requiem Mass (Though Not For Me, As You May Have Thought)

     Well, it is interesting to see how summer work and a boatload of schoolwork can affect my opportunity to post even a small entry! But I finally have something worthwhile to write about!

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra warming up before the concert.
The choir still had yet to come out!
(The picture isn't very clear; it was taken with my phone)

     This past October, I had the exciting and amazing opportunity to see the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra give an outstanding performance of the Requiem Mass in D Minor (K. 626). This was the first time I had ever heard a real, professional symphony orchestra perform any classical masterpiece live. Of all pieces, they performed one of my all time favorites, the Requiem Mass!
     This was only part of the excitement, however. The advertisement I had read for the performance stated that actor John Lithgow would be reading excerpts of poetry and letters written by Mozart. Naturally, I was very excited to see a famous actor live. Then, while waiting for the concert to begin, I discovered in the program that Mr. Lithgow would not be there that night...instead, it was F. Murray Abraham (winner of the Oscar for his performance as Antonio Salieri in the film Amadeus) whom they were featuring! I just about jumped out of my seat. The star of my favorite movie of all time was there that night, reading letters from Mozart during the Requiem Mass! Needless to say, Mr. Abraham did not disappoint.

F. Murray Abraham as Salieri (L) and as himself (R)

     Before the Requiem Mass, the PSO treated us to a stellar performance of Beethoven's violin concerto, featuring Noah Bendix-Balgley. It was so amazing! What more can I say? How can I really describe with words a night filled with Beethoven and Mozart? (Of course, there are no words!)
     One of the most amazing parts of the evening was the end of the Requiem--after the last movement ended, the concert hall faded to complete darkness and a bell tolled in remembrance of one of the greatest composers of all time. Slowly, the lights faded back on, and at that moment, the entire hall erupted into a chorus of emphatic cheers.
     There is nothing quite like being surrounded by Mozart's emotional, deeply moving sacred music. This day will forever be one of my most cherished memories. A special thanks to Dave for this wonderful, unforgettable day!

Happy Birthday, Salieri!

Today, Antonio Salieri would have been 261 years old!
He was 6 years older than Mozart.

       Antonio Salieri was an Italian composer who lived during the same time as Mozart. He was a great teacher, most notably in voice. In performance and composition, he trained some very famous people: Franz Liszt, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert and Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart.

       While the play and 1984 film Amadeus fictionalizes almost every aspect of the real composer's life, one humorous fact that was kept as part of Salieri's character was his great love of sugar. Once as a child, Salieri ran away from home to hear his older brother play the violin at a church. His father told them that if he ran away again, he would lock him in his room for a whole day with nothing to eat but bread and water. This didn't scare Salieri; planning to run away yet again, he hid a sack of sugar in his room. As long as he had sugar, he was fine with being locked in his room! The plan didn't work out too well however, since before he left, he told his sister of his secret. His sister then told his mother, who told his father, who took the sugar out of his room before he came back. Poor Salieri found himself locked in his room for the day, with nothing but bread and water!

       When he was 24 years old, Salieri began to work as the imperial royal chamber composer for Emporer Joseph II of Austria. He was also appointed Kapellmeister to the Italian opera.

       In 1775, when he was 25 years old, Salieri met his future wife, Therese von Helfersdorfer. Before he could marry her, Salieri had to prove to her guardian (whom her deceased father had appointed) that he was able to care for her finacially. When Therese's guardian found that Salieri could only count on 100 ducats annually, he turned him down. Emporer Joseph II heard of Salieri's problem, and raised his salary to 300 ducats a year! Salieri returned to Therese's guardian, who then consented to the marriage, which eventually produced 8 children.

       In his lifetime, Salieri composed 37 operas; his most famous probably being Axur, re d'Ormus, which in its time was performed more times than Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro or Don Giovanni. He also composed concertos, Masses, and several other Sacred works.

       Contrary to what most people have been led to believe, Salieri was not a poor composer, nor was he jealous of Mozart's gifts (at least not jealous enough to plot murder!).

       It has been said that as an old man, Salieri confessed to the murder of Mozart and tried to commit suicide. If he ever did confess to such a crime, let it be noted that during this time, Salieri suffered dimentia and was admitted to a mental hospital.

       Salieri died on May 7, 1825.

Antonio Salieri - Axur re d'Ormus - Finale

(1788)

Happy Birthday, Wolfgang, Jr.!

Mozart's youngest son, Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart (also known as Wolfgang, Jr.), was born on July 26, 1791 in Vienna, around five months before his father's death. Franz Xaver's never really getting to know his father seemed to have no impact on his veneration for him. His whole life, Franz Xaver had a great devotion to his father's music. He not only inherited Mozart's love for music; he became a fine composer/musician himself, studying under several teachers...most notably Antonio Salieri. 

In this video, one can certainly hear whose son he is! This is Franz Xaver Mozart's Violin Sonata in B Flat Major, 3rd Movement, Presto.

Franz Xaver passed away on July 29, 1844 in Karlsbad. His veneration for his father was so great that his tombstone reads:

May the name of his father be his epitaph, as his veneration for him was the essence of his life.

Better Posts Are to Come...

I can promise you that better posts are to come in the near future. In the meantime, this insignificant post may be interesting to some of my readers! These are the costumes in the film Amadeus that were inspired by real portraits. I'm sorry I couldn't think of anything more interesting at the moment, but as I said, some important "Mozart Dates" are coming up, which means better posts are too.

MOZART

 

EMPEROR JOSEPH II

 

 

CONSTANZE

 

LEOPOLD MOZART

 

 

For the movie, they re-painted Leopold's portrait

to look like the actor!

SALIERI

 

Interestingly, Salieri's suits didn't seem to match

any of his portraits. This was the closest I could find.

Troubles, come what may...

I can handle anything, now that I have my Mozart coffee thermos, Amadeus movie, and Amadeus Special-Edition Soundtrack.

Bring it on!

I was bored...

Can't decide which composer to watch a movie about? Watch them both at once!
Introducing...Copying Amadeus, made with the movies Copying Beethoven and Amadeus.
Enjoy this exclusive, blog-only video!

Mozart's Requiem

         When Mozart's Requiem in D Minor, K. 626, was commissioned by a mysterious visitor (a messenger of Count Walsegg, who wanted to pass the composition off as his own), Mozart felt that the messenger was from heaven, telling him that his time was coming. He had been sick for a few months, and wasn't getting any better (he had a suspicion that a composer rival had poisoned him). He had a great fear of death. He wasn't in a good financial position, which worried him even more since he had a wife and two sons. 
         The Requiem in D Minor is probably Mozart's most incredible work. Unfortunately, a large portion of it was unfinished when he died. His pupil Franz Xaver Süßmayr finished the work after Mozart passed away.
         The story of the Requiem inspired me to write a little piece of poetry based on Mozart's point of  view while he is writing his last piece of music. I never write poetry, and this therefore doesn't follow any sort of writing rules. I just wrote what came to me and I hope you like it!

What is this pain inside

Which fills this joyful heart with sorrow,

Which counts every heartbeat as if it were the last,

And fills my every day with terror?

Each note I inscribe sings of my approaching doom,

The fate every man is sentenced to --

Rich and poor, good and dishonest alike.

My hand trembles as I begin each new measure;

The work is no longer mine, but my fate singing through me.

Why me? -- A man so young

And with multiple mouths to feed --

Why is this the man death searches for?

My beloved Creator would not call me so soon,

But jealous rivals made of flesh

Are anxious to be rid of me.

I feel the cruel, invisible weapon

Put in my goblet for an unsuspecting sip;

It creeps up my body and clutches on

With teeth like a venomous snake.

This mortal is lost in the battle for life;

His feeble body is no match for men's jealousy.

But listen!
My music rings out loud in the streets;

I am not dead, but alive!

I sing through ivory, ebony and wood,

Through brass horns and pipes of silver!
What man tried to be rid of,

Man brought back to life! 

Amadeus: Fact and Fiction



Sir Peter Shaffer said of his play Amadeus (and the screenplay for the 1984 motion picture), "[Amadeus is] a fantasia based on fact. It is not a screen biography of Mozart, and was never intended to be." In this post, I recall some scenes from the film and compare them to facts of the composer's life. Fact means, "the movie had this in it", Fiction means, "the movie either made this up, or changed it slightly".

Fiction - After the premier of Die Entführung aus dem Serial, Mozart refers to his future mother-in-law, Frau Weber, as "my landlady". In reality, Mozart had been asked to leave the Weber boarding house 9 months before the opera's premier. (See Life.)

Fact - Mozart did not get along with the Archbishop of Salzburg. The Archbishop mistreated him and eventually dismissed him.

Fact/Fiction - Mozart married Constanze before his father's consent letter arrived in the mail. However, the movie makes it appear as if Leopold never consented to the marriage. Leopold was always somewhat cool toward Constanze, but he did consent to the marriage.

Fiction - Although it would be foolish to say that a proud Austrian such as Mozart didn't enjoy alcoholic beverages, he certainly wasn't an alcoholic, as the movie portrays him to be near the end of his life. His favorite drink was punch, which his friends said he drank in large quantities.

Fiction - Shortly before his death, Mozart slipped into unconsciousness and never awoke. This means that he probably died with his eyes closed, not open.

Fact - Salieri and his co-workers did work secretly to make Le Nozze di Figaro a failure. They asked the performers to request impossible alterations on their parts, infuriating Mozart to the point of threatening to withdraw the entire opera. The Emporer Joseph II stepped in, then, and ordered that everything return to how it was. The performers ended up liking their parts and the opera was a success until a new Salieri opera overshadowed it. As the movie mentions, the opera was withdrawn after only nine performances.

Fiction - Salieri did not kill Mozart, and it was not he who came to Mozart's door commissioning a Requiem Mass. In reality, the mysterious visitor was a messenger of the young Count Walsegg, who liked to commission pieces and pass them off as his own.

Fact - Mozart loved billiards. In the movie there are many instances where he is playing or writing music at his billiards table. Mozart's good friend, tenor Michael Kelly, mentioned in his memoirs that he enjoyed countless games of billiards with him, and never won.

Fiction - Mozart had not one child, but six. Unfortunately, only two survived to adulthood, Karl Thomas and Franz Xaver Wolfgang.

Fiction - Salieri was not with Mozart when he died. Present during Mozart's last hours on earth were his wife Constanze, her sister Sophie and his doctor.

Fiction - Constanze did not attend Mozart's funeral, which was held two days after his death, as she was too distraught.

Fiction - Mozart did not call Constanze "Stanzi", but "Stanzerl".

Fiction - As funny as it was in the movie, the Queen of Night aria in Die Zauberflöte was not inspired by Mozart's mother-in-law!