Life of Mozart

—! IhkJDIES IR^. 383for what was in his mind ; and never in any art, be it whatit may, has the comforting feehng of pious trust in themercy of God, arising from the consciousness of humanweakness, been more truly and beautifully expressed thanin this Recordare.The verse which follows contrasts the torments of thedamned with the hopes of believers, and could not thereforebe suitably rendered with the same composure of tone. Ithad become customary to emphasise the contrast verystrongly, depicting the torments of hell as graphicallyas the joys of Paradise. In this movement, therefore, themen's voices are opposed to the women's, and describe thetorments in short, imitative phrases, emphasised when repeatedby rapid changes from major to minor and sharpsuspensions, and rendered still more forcible by a frequentpregnant rhythmical iigure borne by the stringed instrumentsin unison. The women's voices, supported only by a quietviolin passage, express a low and fervent appeal for redemption,intensified upon repetition by some suspensions.^^ Allthe emotions and reflections represented so far have tendedto turn the thoughts inwards, with such feelings of remorseand repentance as alone can lead to the trust in divinemercy, and it is with the feeling of deep self-abasement thatthe supremest point of the hymn is approached. The voicesunite soft and low in a succession of harmonies such as nomortal ear had ever heard :P^P1=o - ro sup-plex et ac - cliJ. bflt A. M. .^'m-'-iiß—«=nis,^'.cor con -tri- turn qua -SI__^^«_ M "' •"" ^ "^ge-re cu - ram, ; - re curam me-i-j^tm±-[--rz^iJlJ Jtjfe«-^2 G. Weber could not bring himself to attribute to Mozart a treatmentwhich "emphasises, CO« amove, the egotistical baseness of the words, and by the