Reasons for Composition: Verdi - Mozart - Berlioz

What were the reasons behind the compositions of the requiem and how did requiems by other composers influence Verdi in the writing of his own requiem in relation to the treatment of brass and the text? (with specific reference to Mozart and Berlioz)

Context

It is always initially necessary to approach the study of any piece from its context and to work outwards. The three requiems unsurprisingly were all written and came to completion under very different circumstances. Mozart’s requiem was commissioned anonymously and it is arguable that Mozart did not know the importance that this particular piece would have for him save the fee that he agreed before starting to write it. His wife ‘Constanze’ claimed that Mozart had been excited at the prospect of writing a requiem and this could be to do with his ambition to ultimately become ‘Cappelmeister’ at St. Stephens, he saw the requiem as his opportunity to return to the genre of sacred music and, if you will, ‘bolster his CV’ in the hope he would be appointed on the merits of his recent religious work. A point worth arguing is whether or not Mozart was indeed a religious man or whether his approach to sacred music was income related. It would be a shame not to indulge the speculation that Mozart’s death coincided with the nearing end of the requiem and towards the very end of his life, Mozart himself began to see the requiem as his last composition, however it is perhaps irrelevant to the context when the piece was started and for that matter the majority of it finished before Mozart’s decline of health.

Berlioz’s requiem is perhaps the least religious requiem written. Berlioz himself was not religious however used the requiem for the dead to create drama from the concept of Judgement day. The most likely reason for the lack of religious integrity in the requiem is most probably to do with the occasion it was commissioned for: a celebration of the French revolution. Berlioz to felt severe depression shortly after having written the work, this however is not due to a decline in health moreover a problem in scheduling had led to the government calling of the performance and consequently defaulting on the payment of the fee agreed when the work was commissioned.

Verdi’s requiem was initially supposed to be a collection of movements by various composers as a tribute to the recently deceased Gioachino Rossini in 1868 however similar to the Berlioz requiem there were problems post-composition that led to the cancelation of the project. Verdi’s contribution to the work was the ‘Libera me’ and after the problems encountered in trying to have the requiem premiered, Verdi became deeply frustrated at the idea that he would never here his ‘Libera me’ and for that matter a requiem he had had at least some part in writing. In 1873 the death of the writer and humanist Alessandro Manzoni inspired Verdi to add to his ‘Libera me’ to complete the requiem which was then performed on the first anniversary of Manzoni’s death.

It is interesting to see that both Mozart and Berlioz fell into deep depression, Mozart went on to die before even completing his requiem, where Verdi was deeply depressed and upset prior to writing his requiem and sought fulfilment. This leads me to believe that Verdi was at least an incredibly moral person, and in completing his requiem, he may have dedicated the work to Manzoni but ultimately his aim had always been to commemorate Rossini and the requiem was still as linked to him as before.

Text

The first difference between all 3 of the requiem is the number of separate movements they each have: the Mozart containing 15 separate movements, Berlioz – 10 and Verdi just 7 movements. Fundamentally the text itself is incredibly similar and despite the varying number of movements, the emphasis that the composers have put on the various points of the text is also very similar. All 3 requiems have the same skeleton of movements which are:

1. Requiem and Kyrie

2. Dies Irae

3. Sanctus

4. Agnus Dei

Both Berlioz and Verdi take the text quite literally and in the Tuba mirum, swell the ranks of the brass using antiphonal style brass ensembles away from the central performance space, they both use this to tremendous dramatic effect resulting in some of the loudest unamplified music orchestrated even to this day. Although Berlioz actually uses 4 bands which include more then just trumpets, the similarities the compositional textures and colors both composers use are remarkably similar. The initial beginning with fewer instruments and slowly augmenting until full forces are used, admittedly, Berlioz’s treatment of this sentiment begins a little more robustly perhaps the in the Verdi, however the sheer extra magnitude of the ensemble in Berlioz’s requiem makes for an even greater maximum dynamic but without the subtlety of Verdi’s single trumpet opening being echoed by the off stage trumpets. The use of dotted fanfare rhythms as well as ascending triplet flourishes is present in both as well as the use of very full chord voicing. The Root fifth and third are often doubled and each part played by multiple players in both. Berlioz not only starts at f in contrast to Verdi’s single trumpet ‘p’ entry but also sustains the full forces until the end of the movement where Verdi uses them just until the beginning of the ‘Tuba mirum’ This is partially to do with Verdi having added a lot of extra material on to the ‘Dies Irae’ (does not have separate movements for the coincident text) Mozart does not use trumpets in the Dies Irae at all, he instead creates the same epic high energy movement, but not of the same scale, using the singers and strings in tutti for most of the movement. He also uses the range of the voices best suited to create loud and piercing colors to correspond with the theme of the text. Mozart’s overall use of brass in the requiem is incredibly understated. This is because of the constraints of technology on the brass instruments in Mozart’s day, he does however use trombones, this is because the trombone had a religious significance especially associated with funeral music, this is why Mozart uses the trombone extensively through the requiem.

However this is where the similarities stop. As mentioned earlier, Verdi specifically wrote the ‘Libera me’ before the rest of the requiem and therefore this movement has specific relevance, the fact that the other 2 requiems do not include a separate movement for ‘Libera me’ shows Verdi’s difference in approach and so lack of influence from the other 2 previous requiems. To me it seems an obvious choice when looking through the text that ‘Libera me’ – Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death…. Etc. would be an obvious choice as a powerful movement to the requiem.