A fascination that never wanes …
Howard Arman on the appeal of imperfections, guesswork and editorial decisions
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Requiem K. 626
Completed and edited by Howard Arman
Carus 51.652/00
Requiem K. 626 (completed by Howard Arman)
Recording by the Bavarian Radio Choir and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, conducted by Howard Arman
Carus 51.652/99
Editor Howard Arman (left) and Carus chief editor Dr. Uwe Wolf in conversation
Carus Chief Editor Uwe Wolf spoke to Howard Arman about his new version of Mozart’s Requiem. “Yet another version?” you might first think, considering the array of previous attempts in existence (also published by Carus) alongside the traditional Süßmayr version. But the Mozart fragment has such immense potential that completing it is still an irresistible and stimulating challenge. Howard Arman on his motivation and editorial decisions – as well as his approach to Süßmayr.
Why are you fascinated by Mozart’s Requiem?
Oh, how much time do we have? This work casts a spell on me that just never lets up. Perhaps most importantly, the fascination lies in the fragmentary nature of the piece, a sense of incompletion that will never go away. In the attempt to grasp the work in its entirety, we are searching for something that will always remain hidden from us – a perception of the unwritten parts of the Requiem, the music that died with Mozart. The earliest years of the work’s critical reception is tied up with the music that Süßmayr introduced in its place, which also means the ensuing stylistic inconsistencies.
Apart from the completed opening and fragmentary sections, there are those missing movements from Sanctus to the end. What’s your approach here?
The first step was to make a basic choice: I orchestrated and completed sections for which there is material by Mozart, i.e. written in his hand; for those that are completely missing from Mozart’s fragment, I followed Süßmayr’s lead. The vocal parts fully notated by Mozart represent a daunting challenge for the composer of new orchestral music. They are compositionally perfect in themselves, and yet we know that something has to be written to go with them, something that has its own raison d’être alongside an accompanying function. Mozart did not generally write notes as an end in themselves.
I have deliberately avoided repeating short accompaniment figures as a kind of “pattern”. Instead, these are frequently modified in a meaningful way, i.e. to better reflect the text. Generally, we can say that Mozart’s music is strikingly pictorial. In completing the section “Tuba mirum”, in particular, there is a great deal of scope for such considerations. In addition to the introductory trombone music, Mozart has largely notated the essential parts, i.e. solo voices with an unfigured bass line. This bass part has a clear rhythmic character; but even where it consists of chains of eighth notes, it seems justified to add varied accompaniment figures in the upper strings – in fact I would say it is essential due to the strong imagery of the text.
The “Lacrimosa” is a unique case because Mozart did not notate anything after the eighth bar; I have therefore introduced new music to complete the movement. This is followed by an “Amen”, for which I have taken up Mozart’s famous sketch for a fugue in D minor, elaborating this into a complete fugue. We don’t know for sure whether this sketch of the beginning of a double fugue was intended for the Requiem, nor what would have become of it musically if Mozart had used it here. But I saw this as a fascinating and challenging opportunity to end the “Sequentia” with a substantial contrapuntal section.
Why do you not tackle those parts for which nothing by Mozart has survived?
The decision to discard Süßmayr’s orchestrations of Mozart’s fragments and write new ones instead, as we do in this edition, is justified by perfectly understandable technical and musical arguments. In the case of the “Sanctus”, “Agnus Dei” and “Communio”, however, Süßmayr is – according to his own statement – the composer. The idea of concluding the Requiem with music from Mozart’s “Introitus” and “Kyrie” was also his. To change Süßmayr’s original compositions through so-called “improvements” would be a kind of intervention that is neither objectively nor ethically the task of this edition. Here we have no desire to replace Süßmayr’s own music with something “better” or “more suitable”. Its qualities can and should certainly be discussed, as we know the conditions under which it was written. But we respect Süßmay’s original contribution, not least if we reflect on its significance in the history of the Requiem. In fact, we reproduce Süßmayr’s autograph in the form of a critical edition. In the second “Hosanna” fugue, Süßmayr does not indicate tutti for the choir, and so here I leave the fugue to the soloists. I find this convincing in performance, although the difference in key between the two fugues also plays a role. I don’t think it was a mistake on Süßmayr’s part – and even if so, it’s a very attractive one.
You have performed and recorded your own version of the Requiem. Did the musicians require any persuasion?
There was absolutely no arm-twisting involved in the recording I made with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and the Bavarian Radio Chorus. And I was delighted with the positive reaction from the orchestra. These are musicians who play the Requiem in all possible versions, time and again – their praise means a lot to me.
Howard Arman published his version of Mozart’s Requiem with Carus-Verlag in 2024. He was Artistic Director of the BR Choir from 2016 to 2022. In addition to stage, orchestral and vocal works, his own compositions include numerous choral symphonic arrangements and editions of music from the 17th to the 19th century.
Süßmayr version
It is the classic among the completions and the most frequently performed to this day: the Süßmayr version. After Mozart’s death in December 1791, the widowed Constanze Mozart turned to his friends and pupils with the request to complete the fragment. The task fell to Mozart’s pupil Franz Xaver Süßmayr, who completed the Requiem in the form we know today. He had at his disposal workshop material that is now lost, and perhaps also oral instructions from Mozart. This version is still the best-known today and is undoubtedly the closest to Mozart historically.
Maunder version
Levin version
Recording of the Beyer version
Frieder Bernius offers an interpretation at the highest artistic level of Mozart’s final work. He recorded the 1981 version of the Requiem by Franz Beyer, in which the additions by Franz Xaver Süßmayr are left largely intact. However, the instrumentation of the final movements has been improved. “One hears many things as if for the first time. On top of everything, the sound quality of the live recording made in the Stuttgarter Liederhalle is fantastic.” Stuttgarter Zeitung. Awarded the Diapason d’Or
The Requiem as a Carus Coir Coach
The Requiem on carus music, the Choir Coach
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