Lacrimosa - Mozart Requiem

Saturday, 18 August 2018

The ‘Lacrimosa', from Mozart's Requiem, was unfinished when he died. Mozart was seriously ill during much of the time he was composing the Requiem, and it is hard to imagine that he did not start to associate it with his own death. On December 4, 1791, three singers from the theatre visited him and sang through the completed movements of the Requiem, with Mozart himself singing the alto line. He is said to have wept when they reached the unfinished "Lacrimosa." That night his illness took a turn for the worse, and Mozart died just before one o'clock the following morning.

Freely arranged for Concert Band by Geoff Kingston, this beautiful, haunting, movement is often performed separately. Apart from the original Timpani other percussion instruments have been added, which are entirely optional and may be omitted at the discretion of the Musical Director.

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