"'When was the score of the Requiem completed?' is a question that everyone has asked; . . .but Wolff goes on to ask: 'Where do the technical and stylistic premises for the Requiem lie, and to what extent could these be taken into account after Mozart's death?' This question is rich in implications, central to the uniqueness of the work, and virtually undiscussed in the Mozart literature."—Thomas Bauman, co-author of Mozart's Operas

"'When was the score of the Requiem completed?' is a question that everyone has asked; . . .but Wolff goes on to ask: 'Where do the technical and stylistic premises for the Requiem lie, and to what extent could these be taken into account after Mozart's death?' This question is rich in implications, central to the uniqueness of the work, and virtually undiscussed in the Mozart literature."--Thomas Bauman, co-author of Mozart's Operas

This volume contains the authentic score of the Requiem, supplemented by crucial fragments from Suessamayr's 1792 Requiem completion, plus a critical introduction to the work which attempts to untangle its genesis and structure. Christoph Wolff surveys Suessamayr's contribution, and provides a musical analysis of Mozart's composition, including contextual, structural and interpretative aspects. This is followed by an annotated collection of the principal literary documents (1791-1839) that illuminate the puzzling early history of the work.

"'When was the score of the Requiem completed?' is a question that everyone has asked; . . .but Wolff goes on to ask: 'Where do the technical and stylistic premises for the Requiem lie, and to what extent could these be taken into account after Mozart's death?' This question is rich in implications, central to the uniqueness of the work, and virtually undiscussed in the Mozart literature."—Thomas Bauman, co-author of Mozart's Operas

Presenting a fresh interpretation of Mozart's Requiem, Simon P. Keefe redresses a longstanding scholarly imbalance whereby narrow consideration of the text of this famously incomplete work has taken precedence over consideration of context in the widest sense. Keefe details the reception of the Requiem legend in general writings, fiction, theatre and film, as well as discussing criticism, scholarship and performance. Evaluation of Mozart's work on the Requiem turns attention to the autograph score, the document in which myths and musical realities collide. Franz Xaver Süssmayr's completion (1791–2) is also re-appraised and the ideological underpinnings of modern completions assessed. Overall, the book affirms that Mozart's Requiem, fascinating for interacting musical, biographical, circumstantial and psychological reasons, cannot be fully appreciated by studying only Mozart's activities. Broad-ranging hermeneutic approaches to the work, moreover, supersede traditionally limited discursive confines.

A fresh evaluation of Mozart's Requiem which focuses on historical and current understandings in fiction, drama, film, criticism and performance.

Diese Einführung befasst sich im ersten Teil eingehend mit Geschichte und Rezeption des Requiems. Daran an schließt sich eine ausführliche Dokumentation der Requiem-Edition Ostrzygas. Darüber hinaus stellt diese Einführung die erste umfassende analytische Studie zum Requiem dar, die auf historisch informierter Musiktheorie und künstlerischer Praxis (vor allem in Komposition, Instrumentation, Arrangieren) basiert. Sie räumt kritisch mit zahlreichen, auch in der Fachliteratur verbreiteten Vorurteilen gegenüber Süßmayrs Arbeit auf und erörtet zudem Probleme bisheriger Ergänzungs- und Bearbeitungsversuche.