Kyle VanderburgMusic in the Classical Period

October 23, 2010ARTICLE SUMMARY

Simon P. Keefe, "’Die Oschen am Berge’: Franz Xaver Süssmayr and the Orchestration of Mozart’s Requiem, K. 626" in Journal of the American Musicological Society 61, No. 1 (2008): 1-65.

In this article, Simon P. Keefe looks at the history of Franz Xaver Süssmayr’s orchestration of the Mozart Requiem. While it is well known that Mozart did not write the Requiem in its entirety and several movements had to be orchestrated (or written entirely) by his student, Süssmayr, the extent of Süssmayr’s involvement is not completely known. The work is written in such a coherent way as to not suggest the work has multiple composers, but how this was accomplished is not well-known or well-documented.

For reasons unknown, Constanze Mozart was angry with Süssmayr shortly after her husband’s death, and turned to others to complete the Requiem before asking him. Süssmayr eventually was asked to complete the score, taking Mozart’s completed Introit and Kyrie and pairing it with his own Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei. Additionally he arranged portions of Mozart’s particella score for the Sequence and Offertory, and reworked material from the Introit and Kyrie for the concluding Communio. It was this patchwork of material that eventually made up the work given to Count Walsegg in 1792. This version is also the traditional Mozart Requiem performed today.

Süssmayr’s work on the score has created an interesting schism in the analysis of the work. When the quality of the movements of the Requiem are considered high, theorists and musicologists point to the genius of Mozart. When the quality is deemed low, the blame goes to Süssmayr. This opinion of Süssmayr’s work runs so deeply in some historians to consider the Agnus Dei (widely accepted to be Süssmayr’s own work) as a “fairly complete Mozart draft” due to its simplicity and genius. This opinion can be partly attributed to Mozart’s opinion of Süssmayr, which is unknown. While Mozart does not speak flatteringly of Süssmayr in some of his letters, it is suggested that had Mozart truly not liked Süssmayr he would not have spoken of him at all. Another example of the myth surrounding the requiem was that Süssmayr and Constanze Mozart had an affair, and Franz Xaver Süssmayr is the father of the Mozart’s youngest child, Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart. These claims appear to be unfounded.

Because Süssmayr may have completed the Requiem, it is unclear if it should be considered Mozart’s work or not. While Süssmayr did a fine job of creating an aesthetically coherent work, it is unclear if the work should be seen as a tribute to Mozart’s fine teaching of Süssmayr or if it should be seen as a work that simply has two composers. Süssmayr himself said “I can only wish that I have

succeeded well enough at least for connoisseurs to be able to find in it, here and there, some signs of his unforgettable teaching.”