Dvorak Requiem Op.89 - Karel Ancerlby Beirut768

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November 04, 2008: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Requiem Mass in D minor was composed in 1791.That was Mozart's last brilliant composition, and one of the most superhuman and recondite of his works, not only for its artistic musical communication, but also for the disputation over how far of the music did Mozart manage to finish before his death on December 5th. 1791. His pupil, Franz Xaver Sussmayr is said to have been the `'composer'' who, later, finished the work.

Many can agree with me: Mozart's Requiem remains unfinished.

Listening to Antonín Dvorák Requiem I cannot but recall Mozart's.

Dvorak composed his Requiem (1890) one hundred years after Mozart died and the work is one that came at the beginning of the peak of perfection in his creative period. Dvorak, exuberant and vital as ever, took full command at the construction of the mass, throwing his weight about as though he were seeing Mozart's immortal person in the background. I believe, Mozart and Dvorak were the authors of this work. Mozart's soul is there. He lives in it.

This composition was performed for the first time on the 9th of October 1891, in Birmingham, England, conducted by the composer - Dvorak, his achievement opened for him the trodden path to success and glory
In this recording, Karel Ancerl gives us a stupendous interpretation deserving awe and respect. The music and the voices flow in one great sad expression on generally appalling questions regarding human existence.

The composition of the mass is divided in two basic parts, each of which begins with the original interconnection of several liturgical sequences commemorating the Last Supper. Dvorák inserted between "Sanctus Benedictus" and "Agnus Dei" the emotional movement "Pie Jesu," created on the base of the final text of the "Dies irae" pattern. The basic melodies in Introitus-Kyrie, Recordare, Confutalis- maledictis and Lacrymosa are Mozart's.