Requiem (Michael Haydn)

Michael Haydn wrote the Missa pro defuncto Archiepiscopo Sigismondo, or more generally Missa pro Defunctis, Klafsky I:8, MH 155, following the death of the Count Archbishop Sigismund von Schrattenbach in Salzburg in December 1771. Haydn completed the Requiem before the year was over, signing it "S liD oH noret G oria.Salisburgi 31 Dicembre 1771." At the beginning of that year, his daughter Aloisia Josefa died. Historians believe "his own personal bereavement" motivated the composition. Contemporary materials which have survived to the present day include the autograph score found in Berlin, a set of copied parts with many corrections in Haydn's hand in Salzburg and another set at the Esterházy castle in Eisenstadt, and a score prepared by the Salzburg copyist Nikolaus Lang found in Munich.

Instrumentation

The mass is scored for the vocal soloists and mixed choir, two bassoons, four trumpets in C, three trombones, timpani and strings with basso continuo.

Structure

The composition is structured in the following five parts:

#Requiem aeternam Adagio, C minor, common time
# Sequentia Dies irae Andante maestoso, C minor, 3/4
# Offertorium Domine Jesu Christe
#:* "Rex gloriae" Andante moderato, G minor, common time
#:* "Quam olim Abrahae" Vivace, G minor, cut time
#:* "Hostias et preces" Andante, G minor, common time
#:* "Quam olim Abrahae" Vivace e più Allegro, G minor, cut time
#Sanctus Andante, C minor, 3/4
#:* "Benedictus qui venit..." Allegretto, E-flat major, 3/4
#Agnus Dei et Communio
#:* "Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi" Adagio con moto, C minor, common time
#:* "Cum sanctis tuis" Allegretto, C minor, cut time
#:* "Requiem aeternam" Adagio, C minor, common time
#:* "Cum sanctis tuis" Allegretto, C minor, cut time

Tempo

Sherman recommends a tempo relation in which "in ''Agnus Dei et Communio'', the of both ''Agnus Dei'' and ''Requiem aeternam'' equals of the fugue ''Cum sanctis tuis''." Sherman also recommends interpreting the Andante maestoso of the Dies Irae at "a pulse of = MM. 104." Leopold Mozart instructs "that the staccato indicates a lifting of the bow from the string" with no accent implied.

Influence in Mozart's Requiem

Both Leopold and his son Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart were present at the first three performances of Haydn's Requiem in January 1772, and Wolfgang was influenced in the writing of his own Requiem in D minor, K. 626. In fact, Michael Haydn's Requiem is "an important model for Mozart" and strongly suggests that Franz Xaver Süssmayr's completion of Mozart's way does not depart "in any way from Mozart's plans."p. 70 (1998) Wolff

Notes

References

* Heartz (1995) Daniel. New York. ''Haydn, Mozart, and the Viennese School: 1740 — 1780'' W. W. Norton & Co.
* Sherman (1969) Charles. Mainz Foreword to ''Missa pro Defunctis'' Universal Edition
* Wolff (1998) Christoph. Berkeley, California ''Mozart's Requiem: Historical and Analytical Studies, Documents, Score'' University of California Press

{{Authority control

Compositions by Michael Haydn
Haydn, Michael
1771 compositions