Fridays in Lent: Mozart Requiem

I’ve sung the Mozart Requiem in D minor at least thrice, once in 1985, once or twice in the 1990’s, and once on September 11, 2002. I LOVE this piece of music.

Requiem of the week- Mozart

The Requiem Mass in D minor (K. 626) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is almost certainly the best known requiem, since its creation (and non-completion) was presented in the 1984 movie Amadeus. Here’s a segment in which Salieri helps Mozart write his Confutatis. Parts of the Requiem show up in some three dozen TV shows and movies, such as The Big Lebowski and Watchmen.

As noted in the Wikipedia, it was “composed in Vienna in 1791 and left unfinished at the composer’s death on December 5. A completion by

Promoting the Concert

There was a nice article in the [Albany, NY] Times Union newspaper on Saturday, November 5 about a concert of Mozart music taking place at First Presbyterian Church in Albany on Sunday, November 13; I will be participating. This led to some discussion about how people decide to go to events.

One parishioner thought that, while it was a great piece, it was too bad that it did not appear the day before the concert. Apparently, some people see an article in the Saturday religion page in the TU and are primed to go the next day.

Mozart -Dies irae

I’ve sung the Mozart Requiem in choirs at least twice, perhaps thrice, and I love it. The coolest piece is the Dies Irae. And it occurred to me that this is one of those pieces that gets used A LOT in commercials and movie trailers. I heard it most recently in a trailer for the VERY DARK – don’t say I didn’t warn you – Japanese movie called Battle Royale, along with the Verdi requiem that also appears in the film.

I wondered if anyone put together a list of the music’s appearances.