This is the orchestrated performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Requiem mass in D minor”; written in Vienna, 1791.
I picked this particular piece of Mozart’s because it was the last composition he ever wrote before he died later that same year. In fact, the music was never finished and the 4th movement trails off without proper completion. There is speculation that Mozart never finished the piece himself since it follows the traditional sonata form where the last movement repeats the first movement. Even though this was common to the era, it wasn’t a method Mozart commonly used.
As you can tell early in this piece Mozart combined vocals to the instrumental orchestration. This tactic was very similar to the music form of the Baroque era, but was separated by its simplistic style and melody. Even though this piece was commissioned by count Walsegg, it was still intended to be played for the general public. Speculation finds that the count asked for the piece so that he could declare that he had written it himself.
The middle class was growing in their involvement with the arts, especially music since the power of the church declined. As people began to read and learn through the mass production of books, people began to think more secular and not blindly follow the word of the church. As the churches lost control over the population, they also lost the money and need to fund artists for their architecture, sculpture, painting, and music. This caused the artists, like Mozart, to perform to the public for money instead of the exclusive upper class or churches.
Mozart gained popularity since the age of six when he began touring Europe to show off his exceptional skill. He had an unstoppable talent that amazed all spectators, making his music very popular to listen to in the era. His style was said to have been brilliant and powerful, being able to be light and delightful or heavy and dark. Mozart’s style had inspired some of the works of Beethoven.
Although personally I find most classical music to sound the same, I picked this one to see if Mozart’s illness would translate into the song, perhaps as sorrow or dark heavy tones. Sadly, since it was a commissioned piece his creativity was bound.
http://www.mozartproject.org/compositions/ko_86_91.html
Kelly lowry's Blog 
Well written post… very thorough. It’s interesting that this piece following the sonata form. I hadn’t realized that this was strikingly uncommon for Mozart. If it’s true that his time was up before he was able to finish this last piece, it’s a shame that we weren’t able to find out what genius finale he had planned. 😦 It’s amazing he was able to create such a masterpiece even so near to his death though. You said all classical music sounds the same… just curious does that mean you think it’s all amazing or it’s all dull? 🙂 I personally think this piece is very uplifting and dramatic, in my top ten of his works so far. All in all, great connection to the rise of middle class and superb analysis. Thanks for your thoughts!
Very nice post. I like how you included modern speculation about this piece and supported it with known fact about the artist. I understand your desire to hear a darker and sorrowful pieces. It is nice to hear uplifting pieces but it was would be nice to hear deeper darker pieces. Unfortunally artists are largely a reflection of what audiences want to hear, and this was most likely the desire of the audiences.
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Very, very nice post. You did really good on explaining the reason why the middle class people has more accessibility to the songs or arts during this era. I think most of the composers during this era wrote a song from what they see around them. I have to admit that I don’t know much about Classical music, but you post definitely give me some more inside about the musics from this era. The reason behind this song that Mozart wrote were well explained by you. Thank you 🙂
Great post! You did a very nice job explaining in depth this piece of music by Mozart and the history behind it. That is very interesting that this was Mozart’s last piece and it is horrible that he never got to finished it. I wonder how the piece would have ended and if it could’ve been his most famous. I guess we will never know what could have happened but have to remember and respect and love his music today. Good job on explaining the middle classes perspective and respect for this music within the classical era.
An excellent post. I think that being chained artistically by the people he wrote music for was a common theme inside of Motzart’s life and likely was a point of great frustration. Even when he attempted to leave the service of the aristocracy, it seems the realitiy of “putting bread on the table” forced him back.