On February 20th, 2016, The Bloomington Chamber Singers will perform Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Requiem, K.626. The last, and possibly greatest choral work of the composer, the work was left unfinished; Mozart died before completing the Mass. His pen stops poignantly, sadly, after the first few measure of the “Lacrimosa.” And then there is only silence.

Shortly after Mozart’s death, two of his students, Joseph Eybler and Franz Süssmayr, approached Constanze Mozart offering to complete the work. Constanze needed the money that the completed commission would provide, and thus gave both students permission to tackle the task. Eybler completed several movements but then felt he was unable to continue, so it fell to Süssmayr to complete the lion’s share of the finishing work, and he, therefore, is credited with bringing the work to the state where it could be actually performed. Nonetheless, it still is quite clearly a torso and not the work of the brilliant musician who conceived it and sketched its initial movements.

Over the years, various editors and musicologists have published their own reconstructions of the work, some more successful than others. A number of years ago, BCS performed the Requiem using the relatively recent edition of Robert Levin, a reconstruction that was quite in vogue for a number of years.

This coming February We will perform Süssmayr’s edition, which most scholars and musicians now agree most honestly reflects Mozart’s style, techniques, and intentions.

Also on the program will be the Communion motet “Ave, verum corpus” and, as a prelude, the Adagio and Fugue in C Minor, K. 546.

BCS Music Director Gerald Sousa, now in his 27th season, will conduct the Chamber Singers and Orchestra in this masterwork concert.

Cost: 20

For more information contact:

Jason Wadsworth
(812) 266-0624
[email protected]