Here's something you might be interested in.
When push comes to shove and someone demands that I name the piece of classical music I value over all others, I always go with Mozart's Requiem.
The opening requiem aeternam has a solemnity that declares Mozart's innocence has died.
Mozart's other large scale vocal works retain some measure of playfulness and humor.
The Requiem sustains a grandeur that can only be compared to The Iliad.
"Sing, O Goddess, the anger of Achilles, Son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans. Many a brave soul did it send hurrying down to Hades..."
Mozart's music matches the ominous tone of Homer's opening stanza.
Just as the Iliad chronicles a litany of heroic exploits so Mozart moves through the Latin Mass until he brings us to the lacrymosa.
This day of tears is sobbing and penitent.
Already in the grip of his last sickness, Mozart is completely honest with us in this his final music.
Mozart finally sheds the mantle of craftsman-servant and asserts himself as an artist.
For this reason I value Mozart's Requiem above all other classical music. It contains the discovery and revelation of who Mozart was in himself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE2muDZksP4
When push comes to shove and someone demands that I name the piece of classical music I value over all others, I always go with Mozart's Requiem.
The opening requiem aeternam has a solemnity that declares Mozart's innocence has died.
Mozart's other large scale vocal works retain some measure of playfulness and humor.
The Requiem sustains a grandeur that can only be compared to The Iliad.
"Sing, O Goddess, the anger of Achilles, Son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans. Many a brave soul did it send hurrying down to Hades..."
Mozart's music matches the ominous tone of Homer's opening stanza.
Just as the Iliad chronicles a litany of heroic exploits so Mozart moves through the Latin Mass until he brings us to the lacrymosa.
This day of tears is sobbing and penitent.
Already in the grip of his last sickness, Mozart is completely honest with us in this his final music.
Mozart finally sheds the mantle of craftsman-servant and asserts himself as an artist.
For this reason I value Mozart's Requiem above all other classical music. It contains the discovery and revelation of who Mozart was in himself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE2muDZksP4