- Kyrie eleison. Lord, have mercy. First theme: wide leaps, harsh. This is "Kyrie".
- Christe eleison. Christ, have mercy. Second theme: a fast run of small notes. This is "Christe". From here on they run together.
- Kyrie eleison. Lord, have mercy. Before the end the music stops. The last "eleison" is spelled out syllable by syllable. The final chord is hollow, with no third inside it.
Now singing
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Orchestra only, no words
Sounding
Manuscript: the end of the Introitus and the start of the Kyrie
Leaf 5 verso of the same score. On the left, the last chords of the Introitus; to the right of the double bar, the Kyrie has already begun. Mozart wrote the voices and the bass; the orchestral doubling was probably added by his pupils, which shows in the lighter ink.
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Fermatas over every staff and the final chord on 'e-is'. The movement does not close; it hangs, and the Kyrie begins without a pause.
Allegro: after the slow Introitus the tempo suddenly rises.
The basses enter first, with a sharp, leaping theme on 'Kyrie eleison'.
Together with the basses, the altos carry a second, quick and winding theme on 'Christe eleison'. Two themes at once: that is the double fugue.
Then the themes pass to the other voices: the sopranos take up 'Kyrie', and the tenors, lower right, already have the winding 'Christe'.
Figures for the organist: which chords to play over the bass note. This is how the continuo part was written in the 18th century.
About
Two themes at once: one leaping and harsh, the other fast and winding. The text is Greek, not Latin: the oldest layer of the service.
The basses start the first theme, and almost at once a second, faster one is laid over it. From then on the themes pass from voice to voice without a break, and the music rushes forward like a current that has caught you. Just before the end everything suddenly stops, the choir pronounces 'eleison' syllable by syllable, and the movement breaks off on a stark, hollow chord.
Requiem aeternam Eternal rest The silence before a prayer, when words still feel heavy. Mozart begins not with weeping but with a slow walk: bassoons and basset horns step like a procession, and the voices enter one by one, as if people were coming closer in turn. The grief is held back, and that is why it runs deep.
Open movement
Kyrie eleison Lord, have mercy A plea that cannot stop. Two themes cling to each other and the music flows without a breath, like a crowd calling with one voice. Mozart turns 'have mercy' not into a whisper but into an insistent demand, and only at the very end does it break into syllables.
You are here
Dies irae Day of wrath Sudden terror with nowhere to hide. The choir hammers the words together, the strings tremble, and there is not a single soft note. Mozart shows not a picture of the Judgement but how that day feels to a person: sharp, close, with no right of reply.
Open movement
Tuba mirum The trumpet A summons, and then everything falls quiet. The trombone sounds not menacing but solemn and alone, and the voices take the word in turn, as if each were stepping forward. The higher the line climbs, the more personal the fear becomes, until a simple question is heard: what shall I say?
Open movement
Rex tremendae King of fearful majesty Awe before a majesty too great to look at directly. The heavy dotted rhythm is a king's entrance, and the choir cries out his title three times into silence. But in the last bars Mozart strips away the splendour: all that remains is a quiet 'save me', spoken almost on an out-breath.
Open movement
Recordare Remember A calm conversation with the one who can forgive. The voices do not compete but intertwine, like thoughts that have long been carried. Mozart neither frightens nor weeps here: this is the longest and warmest movement, where a person persuades rather than begs in panic.
Open movement
Confutatis The accursed Two worlds side by side: flame and light. The men's voices plunge down into the fire of the strings, the women answer from above, quiet and almost still. Then everything sinks, the harmony wavers, and what remains is a single heart ground to ash, asking to be cared for at its end.
Open movement
Lacrimosa Tearful day Tears for someone else. The strings sob, the melody rises and breaks, as if the voice could not hold. Right here, at bar eight, Mozart's hand stopped, and everything after it is a pupil's attempt to finish his teacher's prayer.
Open movement
Domine Jesu Lord Jesus Christ The fear of the abyss and the light of a promise in one movement. The basses fall deep on the words about hell, the music races away from the lion's mouth, and then the quartet unexpectedly clears. The fugue at the end sounds like a stubborn memory of an old promise: it was given, so it must come true.
Open movement
Hostias Sacrifices and prayers Quiet remembrance of particular people. The rhythm rocks gently, like a slow dance, and the choir sings in plain chords, without any pressure. This is the gentlest place in the work: no one begs for rescue from judgement here; a prayer is offered for those remembered today.
Open movement
Sanctus Holy Sudden light and praise. After a long darkness, trumpets and timpani sound in D major for the first time, like doors thrown wide open. Süssmayr writes a joy that is short and straightforward, without doubt or shadow.
Open movement
Benedictus Blessed Warmth after brilliance. The soloists sing calmly and lyrically, like a greeting to someone arriving in peace. Süssmayr lets the listener rest: there is no fear in this music, only gentle expectation.
Open movement
Agnus Dei Lamb of God A humble plea in which the weight can still be heard. One phrase sounds three times: firm on 'Lamb of God', quiet on 'grant them rest'. Each time the harmony shifts a little, as if the burden were slowly easing, and the third time it brightens.
Open movement
Lux aeterna Eternal light Coming home as a different person. The same music as at the beginning returns, but now with words about eternal light and mercy. The grief has not gone, yet the listener has walked the whole way and hears in the familiar theme not hopelessness but peace.
Open movementWorth knowing
The theme is close to Handel's fugue "And with his stripes" from Messiah.
The same music returns at the end of the work, with different words.
Two of Mozart's pupils completed the orchestra in the Kyrie: the doubling of the voices was probably added by Franz Jacob Freystädtler, the trumpets and timpani by Süssmayr.
Mozart studied the fugues of Bach and Handel in the 1780s in Baron van Swieten's library, where old music was played every Sunday. The Kyrie is written in that tradition.
In the Kyrie theme the melody drops by a diminished seventh: a wide leap, awkward for the voice, that sounds like something breaking.