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

The term Exequien (Latin exequiae) refers properly to all rituals carried out upon the
death of a person, beginning with the conveyance of the body to the church, the celebration
of the Office and Mass for the Dead, the prayers for absolution and finally the burial. In
practice, various parts of the liturgy were omitted due to practical and monetary
considerations as well as local regulation. The usage of Exequien at St. Michael’s seems to
have been specifically for a service including a Seelenamt that took place soon after the burial
had taken place. 159 Although the body of the deceased was in theory supposed to be present
during the mass, a catafalque could be provided as a substitute. Mozart, like most of the
populace, had not received a requiem mass before his burial on 6 (or perhaps 7) December,
but merely a benediction (Einsegnung). It is not clear why 10 December was selected as the
date for the obsequies, as it corresponds to neither the three-day nor the weekly interval
between death or burial and the usual performance of these rites. Since however Mozart died
soon after midnight on the 5 th , his death could perhaps be considered to have occurred on
the 4 th , in which case 10 December becomes the appropriate date to conduct exequies pro die
septimo. 160
The documentary evidence for the service comes from a number of sources at St.
Michael’s. The first, the Liber applicationis, is a record of masses held at St. Michael’s from
1774 to 1805. 161 The list of Obligationes for December 1791 records the celebration of one
mass “Pro Wolfg: Amadeo Mozart”; see Figure 5.14.
159 See Rohling, “Bruderschaften”, 278-84.
160 Manfred Hermann Schmid, “Introitus und Communio im Requiem. Zum Formkonzept von Mozart und
Süsssmayr,” in Mozart Studien 7 (Tutzing: Schneider, 1997), 52n1.
161 “Liber applicationis missarum ab anno 1774 usque ad annum 1805.” MiKA, IV.P-43 u 15.
393