Mozart, Wolfgang Amadé: Missa pro defunctis, Requiem in d-Moll KV 626

This is a new revision of Mozart’s Requiem, as transmitted to us in the traditional completion by Süssmayr. It is a critical revision of this completion, but at the same time also of those produced over the last sixty years, from which we distance ourselves on many essential points. We respect the historical fact that the Requiem has been transmitted thanks to Süssmayr’s work and by no means reject it; however, in view of its shortcomings, we aim at a thorough reworking, both in terms of compositional syntax (voice leading, harmony, and modulation) and orchestration, which has long been regarded as less than successful.

With regard to contemporary completions, we take a clear stand against some of them (in part even published by reputable publishers), particularly with respect to their unsuccessful attempt to add and compose new music onto the transmitted corpus (one may think of the numerous missteps in the Amen fugue at the end of the Sequentia, as well as the expansion of the fugati in the Osanna; furthermore, the problematic handling of the Sanctus and Benedictus, and of the Agnus Dei …).

Our aim, therefore, is in a sense to “dust off” Süssmayr’s version and free it from the flaws and weaknesses that weigh upon it, while ensuring that neither Mozart’s original is obscured nor our revision departs too far from the traditionally transmitted version. Rather, it should come closer to the idiom and stylistic characteristics of late Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his Requiem, and be more convincing to ears accustomed to the master’s music.

“Our intention is therefore not to replace, but to correct while preserving the transmitted material, and ideally to restore it.”

Salvador Mas Conde, March 2026