Born in Salzburg, then in the Holy Roman Empire and currently in Austria, Mozart showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood. Already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty. His father took him on a grand tour of Europe and then three trips to Italy. At 17, he was a musician at the Salzburg court but grew restless and traveled in search of a better position.
While visiting Vienna in 1781, Mozart was dismissed from his Salzburg position. He stayed in Vienna, where he achieved fame but little financial security. During his final years there, he composed many of his best-known symphonies, concertos, and operas. His Requiem was largely unfinished by the time of his death at the age of 35, the circumstances of which are uncertain and much mythologized.
Confutatis
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
flammis acribus addictis,
voca me cum benedictis.
Oro supplex et acclinis,
cor contritum quasi cinis,
gere curam mei finis.
The lyrics of Confutatis, a part of Mozart's Requiem Mass, are written in Latin and are very dark and symbolic. The song speaks of the judgment day and the fate of the condemned souls. Confutatis maledictis means "Confounded are the cursed" which implies that the sinners will be cast away from heaven and will be punished for their deeds. The following line, flammis acribus addictis translates to "given over to the bitter flames." The phrase invokes the image of hell's fire and suggests that the sinners will be tormented in an afterlife. The next line, Voca me cum benedictis means "call me with the blessed," which is a reference to the possibility of redemption and salvation for those who lead a virtuous life.
The second paragraph talks about the singer's plea to God for forgiveness. Oro supplex et acclinis means "I supplicate on my knees." The phrase shows the singer's humility and his willingness to seek forgiveness. The line, cor contritum quasi cinis means "heart like ashes, crushed." This line emphasizes the singer's despair and repentance. Finally, the last line, gere curam mei finis means "take care of my end." This line emphasizes the singer's fear of his own mortality and his hope that God will help him find a peaceful death.
Line by Line Meaning
Confutatis maledictis,
With the condemned being refuted,
flammis acribus addictis,
And thrown into the fierce flames,
voca me cum benedictis.
Call me forth with the blessed ones.
Oro supplex et acclinis,
I beg on my knees and bow down,
cor contritum quasi cinis,
With a heart broken like ashes,
gere curam mei finis.
Take care of me at the end of my life.
Contributed by Charlotte S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Jason Woodring
This is arguably one of the greatest music scenes in the history of film.
Two top-level composers write a piece at lightning speed without offering any musical exposition or context to the audience. Viewers desperately try to keep up with Mozart's genius, to no avail...not even Salieri can keep up.
Mozart is near death, but his entire existence is FOR and IS music. It's almost as if he's regurgitating it, his body trying so hard to get it out that nothing else matters, not even his health, or life.
Salieri, the man who cursed Mozart's name and denied God due purely to Mozart's genius, cannot help but be amazed at the beauty in the music he is notating for his rival composer.
It's really incredible, thank you so much for this video!
321Lopper
One point about the movie that is often overlooked is that salieri is a master too. He is one of the few who immediately recognizes and appreciates Mozarts full genius. And what he does in this scene, writing down the exact notes based on Mozarts very compressed instructions is very hard technically.
Doug Maus
I agree, hear Salieri's gasp of amazement at 4:49 when Mozart says "arpeggios". He immediately knew they were the perfect addition
E K
It never happened like this!
paddy knapp
"From now on, we are enemies - You and I. Because You choose for Your instrument a boastful, lustful, smutty, infantile boy and give me for reward only the ability to recognize the incarnation."
Thadeu Melo
Salieri was a grand Master and it wouldn't be that difficult for anyone on his level to fully orchestrate based on that few instructions.
It was common for composers to write short hands and abbreviations and left the rest for the player or the maestro to complete.
mdhcccc
@Doug Maus nope that was a gasp as in “ur going too fast”
TrebleWoofer
Let's not forget that Salieri was HIGHLY respected in his time, unlike what the movie portrays. He taught theory to Beethoven and Schubert as well.
Alexandre Sobreira Martins
the point most people ignore is that this is fiction. Peter Schafer just used Mozard and Salieri as tropes to portray his metaphorical conflict between genius and mediocrity. By no means was Salieri ever mediocre and Mozart the superhuman musical genius in an infantile pervy man. Also, I doubt Mozart laughed like a chicken!
That said, this movie is one of the best of all time.
CardinalFox07
@Alexandre Sobreira Martinshe was quite "infantile and pervy" though😂
Ryan Hartley
@Alexandre Sobreira Martinsin letters, his laugh was described as "Infectiously giddy" or "metal scraping glass"