MOZART AND THE PRACTICE OF SACRED MUSIC, 1781-91 a ...

Chief among those documents supporting the “authenticity” of Süssmayr’s work on
the Requiem is the celebrated account by Sophie Haibel of Mozart’s last hours. Haibel
recalled that, after hurrying back to Rauhensteingasse from her mother’s place,
Da war der Sissmaier bey M: am Bette dan Lag auf der Deke das Bekante Requem und M:
Explicirte jhm wie seine Meinung seie daß er es Nach seinem Todte Vollenden sollte. 79
This exchange took place some time in the evening of 4 December: it was “schon finster,”
and Mozart’s doctor was only able to visit sometime later, after the “Pieße” at the theatre had
finished. Whether or not this “Pieße” was La Molinara at the Burgtheater, Die
Sonnenjungfrau at the Kärntnertortheater, or another work on offer in the city, there is a
potential conflict between Haibel’s account and the evidence furnished by the account book,
which shows that Süssmayr was already engaged at the theatre on at least one of 3, 4, 5, 6, 8
and 9 December. On present evidence, of course, he need not have played on 4 December
and thus Haibel’s account may be accurate, but a payment of 23fl does suggest service on
more than one night. 80 As only a citation of Ugarte’s original instruction to hire Süssmayr
survives, we do not know the circumstances of his employment, but it is possible that the
composer was engaged to cope with the additional musical demands posed by Leopold II’s
new ballet company, first seen on 15 November 1791. Until further evidence appears,
however, the payment of 23 fl will serve as a necessarily general indication of Süssmayr’s
activities in the week leading up to the memorial service on 10 December.
At present, the only sacred work by Süssmayr known to have been written in Vienna
during Mozart’s lifetime is an Alleluia for solo bass and orchestra, SmWV 127; see Figure
5.7. The autograph is written on a single bifolium of high quality paper, but unfortunately
79 MBA, iv.464.
80 Compare the 2fl Süssmayr received per service at the Hofkapelle a few months before.
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