The Süssmayr completion of Mozart’s Requiem (and other versions)

For a long justification of the need for this web page, please read this page. Otherwise, a heap of information follows pertinent to choirs performing the Süssmayr version of Mozart’s Requiem.

The following editions are basically equivalent with Süssmayr’s completion, but have variations in the vocal parts which are substantial enough to require choristers to make corrections and in some cases, copies from other versions.

[ Bärenreiter / Breitkopf und Härtel / CPDL / Dover / Novello (19th C) ]

Choristers often possess other editions which are new completions, where musicologists have sought to find alternative solutions to the conundrum of the incomplete work, and improve on Süssmayr’s completion. These cannot be used in a traditional performance without some modifications. A discussion of their differences and workarounds to certain problems is provided below.

[ Franz Beyer / Duncan Druce / Richard Maunder / Robbins Landon / Robert Levin ]

Movements, page numbers, and bar renumberings

The various editions can’t even agree on the formal divisions of movements sufficiently to assign a consistent numbering to the individual sections of Mozart’s Requiem.

The following page numbers refer to the vocal scores, not the full scores. Incredibly, one edition (the CPDL version, perhaps unsurprisingly) does not have any page numbering whatsoever.

* The asterisk denotes movements where the bar numbering carries on from the previous movement rather than beginning again from 1; the double asterisk indicates that the movement is sufficiently different that it will not correspond to the other editions. It should be sufficient to glance across the table to see if disparate bar numbering schemes will be encountered in a particular movement – particularly the Cum sanctis, where three possible numberings can occur.

Bärenreiter-Verlag, New Mozart Edition edited by Leopold Nowak

W. A. Mozart, Neue Ausgabe sämtlicher Werke, published in association with the Mozart cities of Augsburg, Salzburg and Vienna by the Internationalen Stiftung Mozarteum Salzburg (NMA), Series I, Category 1, Section 2, volumes 1 (Fragment) and 2 (Ergänzungen), edited by Leopold Nowak, Vienna 1964: Bärenreiter-Verlag, Basel / Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig, 1965

The New Mozart Edition is in several volumes, one with the original Mozart score, described as a fragment, along with the sketch of the incomplete Amen fugue, and a second volume containing Eybler’s orchestration of the Sequence, and the Süssmayr completion. Only the Süssmayr is available as a viable performance option.

Mozart’s original voice parts are preserved very nearly unchanged in the Süssmayr version, however in using any edition the following differences must be checked to ensure the chorus is singing them unanimously.

Dies iræ

Page 14ff., bars 7–8, 28–29: in the first stanza of the Sequence, Mozart wrote “Sybilla” to facilitate the rhyme with “illa” and “favilla”, and Süssmayr copied this spelling; with Italianate pronunciation of Latin in mind, the New Mozart Edition corrects it to “Sibylla”. This difference is crucial if Austro–Germanic pronunciation is used in performance, in which case the choir should sing (the incorrectly spelt) “Sybilla”.

Rex tremendæ

Page 25, bar 12, Alto, 2nd quaver: Mozart wrote f'; Süssmayr changed it to c'.

Lacrymosa

Page 42, bar 26, Alto, 1st note: Süssmayr wrote d', which Nowak has changed to b flat to match the 2nd basset horn part. Some editions (notably Druce, infra) however reinstate the d'. Unusually this change has not been documented in a footnote.

Domine Jesu

Page 44, bar 18, Tenor, last quaver: Mozart wrote f'; Süssmayr changed it to e' (natural).

Page 47, bar 43, Alto solo: on “sanc–” Mozart wrote a crotchet and two quavers, slurred; Süssmayr changed it to a dotted crotchet and two semiquavers.

Quam olim

Page 49, bar 60 (Domine) and page 56, bar 71 (Hostias), Alto: on “sis–” Mozart wrote a crotchet and two quavers, slurred; Süssmayr made a mistake in fitting the right number of syllables in the bar, but traditionally this problem has been “corrected”, and “sis–” is sung to a dotted crotchet and two semiquavers (similar to the error in the alto solo at bar 43 of the Domine Jesu).

Breitkopf und Härtel, Old Mozart Edition, edited by Johannes Brahms

The Old Mozart Edition alters almost all of Süssmayr’s changes back to the Mozartian originals; the exception is the last note in the tenor, bar 18 of the Domine Jesu.

Introit – Kyrie

N.B. Bar numbering in the old edition may continue with bar 1 of the Kyrie effectively being “bar 49”.

Bar 21 (69) and 24 (72), Soprano: underlay in bar 21 (or may be written as 69) is “Christe e–lei–”; remove the “–i–” at the start of bar 24 (72).

Dies iræ

Bars 7–8, 28–29: Brahms copies Mozart’s spelling of “Sybilla”, which facilitates the rhyme with “illa” and “favilla” in Austro–Germanic pronunciation of Latin.

Rex tremendæ

Bar 12, Alto, 2nd quaver: Brahms copied Mozart precisely, who wrote f'; in the Süssmayr version this note is c'.

Bar 22, Tenor: the final note f' is wrong; both Mozart and Süssmayr agree on d'.

Domine Jesu

Bar 6, Alto: fourth note is b flat', not d''.

Bar 43, Alto solo: on “sanc–” Brahms again copies Mozart, who wrote a crotchet and two quavers, slurred; in the Süssmayr version this is changed to a dotted crotchet and two semiquavers.

Quam olim

Bar 60 (Domine) and 71 (Hostias), Alto: on “sis–” Mozart wrote a crotchet and two quavers, slurred; in the New Mozart Edition this becomes a dotted crotchet and two semiquavers (similar to the change in the alto solo at bar 43 of the Domine Jesu).

Choral Public Domain Library, edition by Paco Marmol and Manolo Casaus

No thorough comparison made as yet, but a quick glance revealed a fair amount of disparity; this would be largely due to being edited from the Kalmus vocal score, which I do know to have a deal of variance, but have yet to investigate.

Dover

Refer above to the Breitkopf und Härtel edition, of which both the large and small Dover full scores are a reprint.

Novello edition edited by W(illiam) T(homas) Best

Though ostensibly a revised version of the original edition published by J. Alfred Novello, the version with a new accompaniment by the English organist W. T. Best has most of the same errors as the earlier Novello. These mainly turn out to be underlay differences, some of which are quite subjective if one examines the autograph facsimile, as Mozart and Süssmayr themselves are not completely clear.

The first thing you need to do as a chorister is to add some bar numbers! Without bar numbers you will be well and truly behind the eight-ball when the orchestral conductor expects you to instantly begin rehearsing from some arbitrary bar.

Requiem

Page 3, Bar 27, Tenor: 2nd quaver is B flat, not D.

Page 4, Bar 30, Bass: last 2 quavers have the text “omnis”, not “caro”. Novello appear to have misunderstood Mozart’s notation (something resembling –::–) for repeating the immediate previous word.

Page 4, Bar 35, Alto: the underlay in the 1st half of the bar should read like this:
Note also that the slurring of semiquavers in pairs, as shown, is Mozart’s own phrasing – no printed edition consulted thus far actually reproduces this phrasing.

Page 4, Bar 36, Soprano: the underlay in the 2nd half of the bar should be like the example above for alto (obviously the notes themselves are pitched a fifth higher).

Kyrie

Page 7, Bar 18, Tenor: move the underlay “–i–” to the semiquaver after, on A.

Page 8, Bar 21 and 24, Soprano: underlay in bar 21 is “Christe e–lei–”; remove the “–i–” at the start of bar 24.

Page 8, Bar 27, Bass: remove the underlay “–i–” at the end of bar 27, and over the page in bar 28, remove the underlay “son , e–le–”.

Page 9, Bar 30, Soprano: move the underlay “–i–” to the last quaver of the bar, on E flat.

Pages 9–10, Bars 34–38: this phrase is underlaid incorrectly in 5 different places:
It occurs in the Soprano first, in bar 34, then in the Bass in bar 35, Tenor in bar 36, Alto in bar 37, and the Soprano again in bar 38.
In each case the “–i–” comes on the 2nd last quaver of the bar, not the last quaver.

In some ways this is a rather subjective change, as normal practice of the time allowed the composer to simply write the dipthong “lei” and let the singer place the “i” according to whim, usually on a final quaver or crotchet. Mozart is frequently explicit in placing the syllable, but also often simply places the “i” immediately before “son” without a precise placement, or breaking a beam where a change of syllable would normally demand it.

Page 10, Bar 43, Soprano: the underlay of the last two quavers is “le–i–”, not “lei– –”.

Page 10, Bar 45, Tenor: move the underlay “–i–” from the 5th quaver to the 6th quaver, on C.

Page 10, Bar 47, Tenor: underlay is “e–le–i–son, e–le–i–”, not “lei– –”.

Page 11, Bar 48, Bass: move the underlay “–i–” from the 3rd quaver to the 4th quaver, on C.

Page 11, Bar 49, Soprano: move the underlay “–i–” from the 1st quaver to the 2nd quaver, on C sharp. This is especially desirable to avoid changing to a more difficult vowel on an exposed top A.

Page 11, Bar 49, Bass: move the underlay “–i–” from the 1st quaver to the 2nd quaver, on A.

Dies iræ

Pages 12 ff., Bars 7–8, 28–29: Mozart’s spelling of “Sybilla” has been corrected to “Sibylla”. For performances using Austro-Germanic pronunciation of Latin, this means that “Sibylla” no longer rhymes with “illa” and “favilla”.

Rex tremendæ

Page 26, Bar 22, Tenor: the final note f' is wrong; both Mozart and Süssmayr agree on d'.

Quam olim

Page 51, Bar 60 (Domine) and Page 59, Bar 71 (Hostias), Alto: on “sis–” Mozart wrote a crotchet and two quavers, slurred; most editions have a dotted crotchet and two semiquavers, but a conductor may prefer Mozart’s original rhythm.

Cum sanctis

Page 84, Bar 81, Bass: underlay is “qui–a__ pi–us”, not “pi–us, pi–us”.

Completion by Franz Beyer

Orchestration by Franz Beyer, München 1971/1979: Edition Eulenburg, Zürich 1971 / Edition Kunzelmann, Adliswil, Lottstetten 1980 (Partitur 10039 / Aufführungsmaterial käuflich)

No detailed comparison made yet. Beyer’s completion mainly deals with improving and revising Süssmayr’s orchestration, but apparently does contain the occasional alteration to the voice parts.

Completion by Duncan Druce

Edition by Duncan Druce, Holmbridge 1992: © Novello & Co. Ltd., London and Sevenoaks 1993 (Nr. 07 0529; Auslieferung Leihmaterial: Ricordi, Milano)

A brief glance at the new Novello edition reveals that it contains two versions, firstly Druce’s revisions to Süssmayr’s completion, much in the manner of Franz Beyer’s pioneering edition, and secondly Druce’s own completion, where he recomposes several sections. It is therefore relatively easy to perform from this score in a “traditional”performance – indeed, the pagination of the Süssmayr version is identical to the earlier Novello edition – but there are still discrepancies here and there. The remarks above concerning the differences between Mozart’s original voice parts and Süssmayr’s rewriting of them need to be considered as in general Druce favours the Mozart.

Introit – Kyrie

N.B. The bar numbering in Druce’s edition treats Introit and Kyrie as a single movement, so bar 1 of the Kyrie is numbered as “bar 49”.

Dies iræ

Bars 7–8, 28–29: Druce corrects Mozart’s spelling to “Sibylla”, however in Austro–Germanic pronunciation of Latin this no longer rhymes with “illa” or “favilla”.

Rex tremendæ

Bar 12, Alto, 2nd quaver: Druce prefers Mozart’s f' to Süssmayr’s c'.

Lacrymosa

Bars 24–27, Tenor, Alto: Druce has rewritten Süssmayr’s voice parts, and the originals are found in a footnote at the bottom of the page. (There is however an awkward page turn at bar 24, where the tenor is already supposed to have started singing on the third beat, but instead has a bar rest in Druce’s amended part.) It is not sufficient to simply change the note pitches in the main part of the score, since the underlay differs also.

Lastly, in bar 26, the alto’s first note is d', which the New Mozart Edition has changed to b flat to match the 2nd basset horn part. Süssmayr, however, did write d'.

Domine Jesu

Bar 43, Alto solo: on “sanc–” Druce again re-instates Mozart’s voice parts, where this is sung on a crotchet and two quavers, slurred; in the Süssmayr version this is changed to a dotted crotchet and two semiquavers.

Quam olim

Bar 60 (Domine) and 71 (Hostias), Alto: on “sis–” Mozart wrote a crotchet and two quavers, slurred; in the New Mozart Edition’s version of the Süssmayr this becomes a dotted crotchet and two semiquavers (similar to the change in the alto solo at bar 43 of the Domine Jesu).

Cum sanctis

Page 84, Bar 81, Bass: Novello defiantly sticks to its guns by reprinting the same mistake it printed in every previous edition! Süssmayr’s underlay in this bar is unequivocally “qui–a__ pi–us”, not “pi–us, pi–us”.

Completion by Richard Maunder

Edited by Richard Maunder, Cambridge 1986: Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York 1988, Gemeinschaftsausgabe mit Carus-Verlag, Stuttgart (Partitur / Klavierauszug / Chorpartitur / Orchesterstimmen: CV 40.630/01, /03, /05, /09,11-14,49)

C.R.F. Maunder’s completion dispenses with as much of the contributions by Süssmayr as possible, however the movements he excludes (the Sanctus and Benedictus) are reprinted unchanged at the back of the score as appendices. A list of changes and differences follow:

Dies iræ

Page 13ff., bars 7–8, 28–29: in the first stanza of the Sequence, Mozart wrote “Sybilla”, which Maunder has corrected to “Sibylla”. The correct spelling does not facilitate the rhyme with “illa” and “favilla”, which is peculiar given Maunder’s stated preference for Austro–Germanic pronunciation of Latin.

Rex tremendæ

Page 23, bar 12, Alto, 2nd quaver: Maunder naturally prefers Mozart’s f' to the substitution of c' by Süssmayr.

Lacrymosa and Amen

Page 39ff., bar 9 to the end is newly composed by Maunder, including a realisation of the sketch Mozart made of the Amen. The equivalent bars 9–30 may be copied from a Breitkopf score – but before doing so, the status of the ambiguous b flat (or d') in the alto part, bar 26, should be resolved.

Domine Jesu

Page 48, bar 18, Tenor, last quaver: Maunder prefers Mozart’s f' to the substitution of e' natural by Süssmayr.

Page 50, bar 43, Alto solo: Maunder reproduces Mozart’s original rhythm on “sanc–” of a crotchet and two quavers, slurred, which Süssmayr changed to a dotted crotchet and two semiquavers.

Quam olim

Page 52, bar 60 (Domine) and page 58, bar 71 (Hostias), Alto: Maunder reproduces Mozart’s original rhythm on “sis–” of a crotchet and two quavers, slurred, which other editors changed to a dotted crotchet and two semiquavers.

Sanctus and Benedictus

See the appendix of the Maunder score for these.

Agnus Dei

Maunder believes the chorus parts to have been adapted by Süssmayr from a genuine Mozart sketch since lost, so his edition corrects some vocal parts and removes four bars of interlude which simply repeat the cadences just sung by the chorus. On pages 62 and 63, bars 15–29 need to be replaced by the equivalent bars 15–33 from Breitkopf (note the reinstatement of the four excised bars).

Maunder page 64, bar 41 (equivalent to Süssmayr bar 45), Bass: Maunder’s correction of the bass to a G flat is so arguably superior to Süssmayr’s harmonically ambiguous G natural that it is sad to have to recommend altering this note. But unless the bass instruments have their parts amended to G flat (as well as the other chorus scores), then the choral basses must sing this as a G natural.

Lux æterna

Pages 65 and 66, bars 8–14 differ in rhythm and need to be replaced by the equivalent bars from Breitkopf. (With the caveat, if possible, of bar 8: this however would need to be modified in the other chorus and trombone parts to match the rhythms suggested by Maunder, which are arguably an improvement Mozart might have made himself.)

Cum sanctis

The underlay of the countersubject is completely different, so the entire movement is best replaced by with the fugue in the Breitkopf score.

Completion by H.C. Robbins Landon

With contributions by Joseph Eybler and Franz Xaver Süßmayr and edited by Howard Chandler Robbins Landon, Château de Foncoussières/Tarn, 1991: Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden 1992 (Partitur Nr. 5210 / Orchesterstimmen OB 5210 / Klavierauszug EB 8585 / Chorpartitur ChB 5253 / Textbuch TB 40

No detailed comparison made yet. The revisions made by Robbins Landon are based on the work of other musicians who attempted to complete the Requiem before Constanze Mozart gave this task to Süssmayr. It thus incorporates Joseph Eybler’s orchestration of portions of the Sequence from Dies iræ to Confutatis where this is superior to Süssmayr’s. I also suspect that Robbins Landon may have made use of Abbé Stadler’s copy of the Offertorium.

Completion by Robert Levin

Edition by Robert D. Levin, Freiburg im Breisgau 1993: Hänssler-Verlag, Neuhausen 1994 (Partitur / Klavierauszug / Orchestermaterial leihweise: HV 391.862/01, /02, /03-16), entstanden in Zusammenarbeit mit der Internationalen Bachakademie Stuttgart, uraufgeführt zum Europäischen Musikfest Stuttgart 1991

No detailed comparison made yet. Robert Levin has not attempted to correct Süssmayr’s orchestration (like Franz Beyer) or to adapt that of Eybler and others (like H.C. Robbins Landon) but has followed the strategy adopted by Maunder of stripping back the work to the Mozartian fragment – usually only the voice parts, basso continuo, and the occasional orchestral line – and recomposed the orchestration using Mozart’s works of 1791 for stylistic guidance. Unlike Maunder, he has not dispensed with the movements composed by Süssmayr, but treated them in the same manner by revising their orchestration. He has however tried his hand in recomposing the Amen (Mozart) and Osanna (Süssmayr) fugues, so it is expected there would be substantial differences in the vocal parts of the Lacrymosa, and from Sanctus onward.

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