Mozart - Week 1

Mozart’s Compositions for Choir and Choral Methods of the 18^th Century

While most of Mozart’s passions were geared toward orchestral music and operas, he wrote some pieces that feature choir.  Most of his vocal pieces were masses that were commissioned by religious figures that correlated with Mozart’s Roman Catholic faith during the 18th century.  Mozart's most famous mass would be considered his Requiem Mass in D Minor. In Roman Catholicism, the definition of a requiem is a mass of the repose of the souls of the dead. 

This mass was composed near the end of his life; however, he was never actually able to finish it because he died before it was completed.  There are many different theories as to who completed it. The most popular theory is that his student Franz Xaver Süssmayr finished the last few pieces near the end of the mass.  Within the mass, there are numerous movements.  Most of them are performed separately because when the mass is performed in its completion it is close to a whole hour without cessation. These movements were also special because the “musical substance” of this requiem was not on the instrumentals but on the vocalists.  This is very unique for Mozart because most of his music was written for orchestras.

Here is a small clip of Mozart’s Requiem and Arsys Bourgogne performing Dies Irae:

https://youtu.be/neDnpgZPPvY?t=8m19s

Listening to this piece, it seems much darker than most of Mozart’ other works.  Multiple musicologists speculate that may be because of his declining health and the possible depression he was suffering from at the time (Wolff).  However, these are just speculations and theories created by historians.  At this same time, most of Mozart’s priorities were focused on his opera Die Zauberfloüte.  Many musicologists hypothesize that Mozart worked on the Requiem often in his head throughout the day and night while he was preoccupied with the opera’s premiere.  However, the requiem was mostly complete before his death. 

We will never know for sure how choristers sung during Mozart’s time because there are no recordings from the 18^th century. However, there are written accounts of the choral tone that audience members heard. For example, “…in the latter half of the 18^th century, reports about offensively loud choral singing became more frequent, and indicate that most choral directors knew little about using the voice properly” (Jerold 78). This is very different from the way choirs normally sing today. Emphasis is taken on expression through dynamics. In fact, “the extent of the vocal straining can be gauged by Dr Friedrich August Weber’s criticism in 1800 of training that leads to coughing blood” (Jerold 78). Today, choir directors focus on healthy singing techniques that choristers can use for their entire lives. One issue in some choirs of the 18^th century was tempo. One account of an 18^th century choir was said to be, “…confusing: all irregular in the music” (Jerold 77). This is because there was, “…no metronome to train musicians in rhythmic accuracy” (Jerold 77). Instead, conductors would pound large sticks or stamp their foot to keep time. Yet, without metronomes or formal music training, many choirs in the 18^th century had timing issues.

Perhaps, these accounts are merely criticisms of poor choirs, but since these are some of the only accounts of choral singing at the time, these accounts are considered true by historians. I think that Mozart and his audiences would prefer how choirs sing today compared to the screaming techniques of the choirs of the 1700’s. Because of the poor quality of choirs in the 18^th century, “Early composers rarely had the luxury of hearing their works performed with what we consider to be good musicianship” (Jerold 77). While musicians today often strive to create performances that are true to how they would have sounded when they were first premiered, Mozart would most likely cherish the sound of today’s choirs.

Sierra Marsh wrote about Mozart’s compositions. Logan Kropp wrote about choral singing methods in the 18^th century.

Works Cited

Jerold, Beverly. "Choral Singing Before The Era Of Recording." Musical Times 147.1895 (2006): 77. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 8 Nov. 2015.

Schwarm, Betsy. "Requiem in D Minor, K 626 - Mass by Mozart." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 24 Apr. 2015. Web. 08 Nov. 2015.

Wolff, Christophe. Mozart's Requiem: Historical and Analytical Studies, Documents, Score. University of California Press: 1998. Print.