Recordare: lyrics and translation
- Recordare, Jesu pie,Remember, merciful Jesus,Step 1: I am the reason for your journey.
- quod sum causa tuae viae,that I am the reason for your journey,
- ne me perdas illa die.do not destroy me on that day.
- Quaerens me sedisti lassus,Seeking me, you sat down weary,Step 2: do not waste what you have done.
- redemisti crucem passus,you redeemed me by suffering the cross,
- tantus labor non sit cassus.let such labour not be in vain.
- Juste judex ultionis,Just Judge of vengeance,Step 3: forgive before the trial.
- donum fac remissionisgrant forgiveness
- ante diem rationis.before the day of reckoning.
- Ingemisco tamquam reus,I groan like one who is guilty,Step 4: I admit my guilt. The music is sharper here.
- culpa rubet vultus meus,my face burns with guilt,
- supplicanti parce, Deus.spare the one who begs you, O God.
- Qui Mariam absolvisti,You who absolved Mary,Step 5: examples from the Gospel. You forgave Mary Magdalene and the thief crucified beside you - so you can forgive me too. On these words the music clears.
- et latronem exaudisti,and heard the thief,
- mihi quoque spem dedisti.have given hope to me as well.
- Preces meae non sunt dignae,My prayers are not worthy,Step 6: I am not worthy, but you are good.
- sed tu bonus fac benigne,but you, who are good, act kindly,
- ne perennis cremer igne.so that I do not burn in everlasting fire.
- Inter oves locum praesta,Give me a place among the sheep,Step 7: the request itself. In the Gospel account of the Judgement, God separates the saved from the rest as a shepherd separates sheep from goats, and places the sheep on the right. "Set me on the right" means "count me among the saved".
- et ab hoedis me sequestra,and separate me from the goats,
- statuens in parte dextra.setting me on the right side.
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Manuscript: the opening of the Recordare
Leaf 76 verso of the working score. The longest movement of the Requiem begins with a long orchestral introduction: basset horns, cellos and then the strings.
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About
The longest movement and the calmest. The four soloists do not compete; they intertwine. The text here is a courtroom speech, built step by step: from "I am the reason for your journey" to the plain request at the end.
The orchestral opening sounds like two lines drawn out one after the other: basset horns weave above a descending line in the cellos. Then the voices enter in pairs and pass the melody to one another. At "Ingemisco" - "I groan as one guilty" - the music grows tenser, and at "Qui Mariam" it unexpectedly clears: here it recalls those who have already been forgiven. The movement is long but unhurried: every proof is spoken to the end.
Worth knowing
The examples in this movement are not chosen at random: Mary Magdalene was a sinner and the thief crucified beside Jesus was a criminal, and both were forgiven at the last moment. The person in the text does not argue that they are good - they point out that worse than them have been forgiven.
The Recordare text has seven stanzas, and Mozart cuts none of them. That is why it is the longest number in the Requiem.
Mozart left all the vocal parts, the bass and the main instrumental lines here, including the introduction. Süssmayr completed the rest of the orchestra.
The movement opens with two basset horns: one leads the melody, and a few notes later the second begins the same line, as if chasing the first. This device is called a canon, and it is why the opening sounds like a calm conversation between two voices.
"Quaerens me sedisti lassus", "seeking me, You sat down weary", points to the Gospel of John: a tired Jesus sits by the well and talks with the Samaritan woman.
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