Life of Mozart

DIES IRM. 381punctuated passage for the strings, sinking, as it were, intoterrified silence at each recurrence of the exclamation.Theidea of the mercy of the Redeemer is at first subordinate tothis impression :while sopranos and altos in strict imitationrepeat the " Rex tremendas majestatis," and the stringedinstruments elaborate their figure in two-part imitation, thetenors and basses announce ''Qui salvandos salvas gratis"with a characteristic motif, also in strict imitation ; and thisisrepeated, with alternations of the upper and lower parts,until they all four unite in the whole sentence, forming amovement of concisest strength and severity. The declarationof mercy calls forth the prayer, beginning with thesingle appeal, "Salva me !" repeated to the gradually dyingpassage for the stringed instruments, and finally concentratingall its strength and intensity of emotion in theprayer :^^ " Salva me, Fons pietatis " ^°!And now the idea gains ground of the merciful Saviourand His work in reconciling mankind with God; Him webeseech to intercede for souls conscious of their sinfulness.The verses which are devoted to- this division of thesubject are given to a quartet of solo voices, as appropriateto the gentler and more individual tone of the emotionsdepicted. The quartet in question is one of the longest andmost elaborate movements of the Requiem, and in its planand arrangement, in the wealth and importance of its differentmotifs, in the delicacy of its detail, and the spiritwhich breathes from it throughout, it is perhaps the finestof them all ; nor is it too much to say that no more beautifuland noble piece of music of the kind has ever been written.Mozart himself recognised the fact, telling his wife, afterwriting down the Recordare, that if he were to die beforefinishing the Requiem it was of the greatest importance that^9 Indescribably beautiful is the occurrence here of the chord of the minorsixth on G, instead of the minor common chord which one expects.^° The close in D minor of the movement in G minor appeared so striking toMozart must haveSchwencke (A. M. Z., IV., p. 11), that he conjectured thatintended a further revision of these choruses. But the different movements ofthe Sequence, although detached, are yet in immediate relation w^ith each other;and Mozart made the transition into D minor because the following movementis in F major.