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while he was unflaggingly absorbed in his work.
Of course, he was pleased, but he continued to
work. They chatted much; he heard nothing. And
if they spoke to him directly, he replied briefly
without getting angry, and continued to write."
In early October, in less than ten or so days,
despite being exhausted, he wrote another of
his great masterpieces: the luminous Clarinet
Concerto.
And finally, of course, there is the famous episode
of the Requiem. Mozart put all of his remaining
strength into this work, commissioned in
mysterious, somewhat disquieting circumstances
by a stranger dressed from head to toe in black. In
a letter written three months before his death, he
said: "My head is confused, I am exhausted and I
cannot rid my eyes of the image of this stranger.
I see him continually begging me, soliciting me
and impatiently demanding my work. I go on
because composing wearies me less than resting."
Some biographers have concluded that Mozart
literally worked himself to death, attributing his
early demise to poor health, the primary cause
of which were the long and numerous journeys
he undertook in his youth, when he was ill
on several occasions. The other cause was his
lifestyle, and particularly his diet, which the adult
Mozart neglected because he was so preoccupied
with his work that he only ate just enough food
to survive. The fact is that, for example, just four
hours before his death, he was still working on
the Requiem.
Dr Joseph Frank, who took lessons with Mozart
around 1790, said this of him: "He must have
been a beautiful child, but from the age of six,
he was restricted to a sedentary life. He started
to compose at around this time. And what did not
this man write, especially in his final years! As we
know, Mozart preferred to play and compose at
night, and the work often being urgent, we can
imagine how much a body with such a delicate
organism must have suffered. His premature
death should be attributed primarily to this cause."
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