Hostias: lyrics and translation
- Hostias et preces tibi, Domine,Sacrifices and prayers of praise, O Lord,The choir sings in plain chords, almost without ornament, in three beats - the rhythm of the slow ceremonial dance that was then called a sarabande.
- laudis offerimus.we offer to you.
- Tu suscipe pro animabus illis,Receive them for those souls
- quarum hodie memoriam facimus.whom we remember today."Whom we remember today." At this point in the service the names of the dead were spoken.
- Fac eas, Domine, de morteLet them, O Lord, pass from deathOn the words "to pass from death into life" the melody rises: the movement of the music repeats the movement of the text.
- transire ad vitam,to life,
- quam olim Abrahae promisistiwhich you once promised to AbrahamThe same "Quam olim" fugue, note for note. In the manuscript this is marked "Quam olim da Capo": possibly the last thing Mozart wrote in the score.
- et semini ejus.and to his seed.
A moment of remembrance
Whom you remember
At these words the names of the dead were spoken in the service. A requiem is by origin not a concert but an act for someone in particular. If you wish, write a name. It stays in your browser only.
Press Play or the space bar: the singers and players sounding at that moment light up on stage, and the words appear here. Meanwhile, tap any group to find out who they are.
The manuscript: last page of the Hostias
Leaf 99 of the working score. The Hostias is written out to the end, and in the margin stands the instruction to repeat the fugue: 'Quam olim da Capo'. By one account, this is the last thing Mozart wrote in the score.
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About
A calm movement in three beats and the clearest texture in the whole work: the choir sings in plain chords and the orchestra barely intrudes. Here the words "today" and "remembrance" appear for the first time - at this point in the service the names were read out of those being remembered that day. Until now the text spoke of the Judgement in general; here it is about particular people.
The choir sings in gentle chords in an unhurried triple time, like a slow, old-fashioned dance. The orchestra stays out of the voices' way: this is the most transparent passage in the work. At 'fac eas, Domine, de morte transire ad vitam' the harmony darkens for a moment and blossoms again, like a passage from death to life. Then the same 'Quam olim Abrahae' fugue that ended the Domine Jesu returns.
Worth knowing
At the words 'whom we remember today' the names of particular people who had died could be read out during the service.
The Hostias is probably the last thing Mozart worked on: its final page carries 'Quam olim da Capo' in his hand.
By the time Mozart was working on the Requiem, he had already buried his father and four of his six children.
Mozart wrote 'Quam olim da Capo' three times on the last page of the Hostias. The corner with the third was torn off and stolen at the 1958 World's Fair in Brussels. It has never been found.
On 11 September 2002, a year after the attacks in New York, choirs in twenty time zones sang Mozart's Requiem at 8:46 local time - the minute the first plane hit the first tower. The choirs came in one after another, zone by zone, for a whole day. The singers were given cards with the names of the dead - just as, long ago, the names of those 'whom we remember today' were read at these words of the service.
Conversation
What you heard
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Quiet here so far. Yours would be the first.