Amsterdams Bach Consort with Mozarts Requiem

Requiem

In 1791, a strange man appeared at Mozart's door. He was the messenger of an anonymous client who asked Mozart to compose a requiem.

Mozart never knew who commissioned the Requiem. But this is now known: it was the Austrian Count Franz Walsegg. He had just lost his young wife, Maria Anna Theresa. The Requiem would be dedicated to her. Walsegg wanted to pretend that he had composed the piece - and of course, no one was allowed to know that he intended to do so.

But his plan went differently. Mozart died and left the Requiem unfinished. However, his wife Constanze ensured that the Requiem would be completed quickly. After approaching several composers, Franz Xaver Süßmayr, a student of Mozart, completed the Requiem. He had already helped his teacher with the piece on his deathbed.

Mystery

It was a coincidence that Mozart's last piece was a requiem. In the last months of his life, he also worked on other pieces, such as his famous clarinet concerto and the operas Zauberflöte and Clemenza di Tito.

The cause of Mozart's death will remain a mystery. But the greatest mystery of all is the mystery of Mozart himself: it remains incredible how someone could compose so much beautiful and awe-inspiring music in such a short life.

We wasted too much time

It is the title of the final movement from the Climate Kantate that Niek Idelenburg composed. The text from the Urgenda case that inspired him to write the final reads:

If we can solve the biggest problem of the century, why for god sake don't we?

Please note: the end time is an indication.