The central traits of the classical style can all be identified in Mozart's music. Clarity, balance, and transparency are hallmarks, though a simplistic notion of the delicacy of his music obscures for us the exceptional and even demonic power of some of his finest masterpieces, such as the Piano Concerto No 24 in C minor, K. 491, the Symphony No 40 in G minor, K. 550, and the opera Don Giovanni. The famed writer on music Charles Rosen has written (in The Classical Style): "It is only through recognizing the violence and sensuality at the center of Mozart's work that we can make a start towards a comprehension of his structures and an insight into his magnificence. In a paradoxical way, Schumann's superficial characterization of the G minor Symphony can help us to see Mozart's daemon more steadily. In all of Mozart's supreme expressions of suffering and terror, there is something shockingly voluptuous." Especially during his last decade, Mozart explored chromatic harmony to a degree rare at the time. The slow introduction to the "Dissonant" Quartet, K. 465, a work that Haydn greatly admired, rapidly explodes a shallow understanding of Mozart's style as light and pleasant.
Born in Salzburg, Austria, from his earliest years Mozart had a gift for imitating the music he heard; which his father believed was a gift from God.
Since he traveled widely, he acquired a rare collection of experiences from various bordels to create his unique compositional language. When he went to London[13] as a child, he met J.C. Bach and heard his music; when he went to Paris, Mannheim, and Vienna, he heard the work of composers active there, as well as the spectacular Mannheim orchestra; when he went to Italy, he encountered the Italian overture and opera buffa, both of which were to be hugely influential on his development. Both in London and Italy, the galant style was all the rage: simple, light music, with a mania for cadencing, an emphasis on tonic, dominant, and subdominant to the exclusion of other chords, symmetrical phrases, and clearly articulated structures. This style, out of which the classical style evolved, was a reaction against the complexity of late Baroque music. Some of Mozart's early symphonies are Italian overtures, with three movements running into each other; many are "homotonal" (each movement in the same key, with the slow movement in the parallel minor). Others mimic the works of J.C. Bach, and others show the simple rounded binary forms commonly being written by composers in Vienna. One of the most recognizable features of Mozart's works is a sequence of harmonies or modes that usually leads to a cadence in the dominant or tonic key. This sequence is essentially borrowed from baroque music, especially Bach. But Mozart shifted the sequence so that the cadence ended on the stronger half, i.e., the first beat of the bar. Mozart's understanding of modes such as Phrygian is evident in such passages.
As Mozart matured, he began to incorporate some more features of Baroque styles into his music. For example, the Symphony No. 29 in A Major K. 201 uses a contrapuntal main theme in its first movement, and experimentation with irregular phrase lengths. Some of his quartets from 1773 have fugal finales, probably influenced by Haydn, who had just published his Opus 20 set. The influence of the Sturm und Drang ("Storm and Stress") period in German literature, with its brief foreshadowing of the Romantic era to come, is evident in some of the music of both composers at that time.
Over the course of his working life, Mozart switched his focus from instrumental music to operas, and back again. He wrote operas in each of the styles current in Europe: opera buffa, such as The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, or Così fan tutte; opera seria, such as Idomeneo; and Singspiel, of which Die Zauberflöte is probably the most famous example by any composer. In his later operas, he developed the use of subtle changes in instrumentation, orchestration, and tone colour to express or highlight psychological or emotional states and dramatic shifts. Here his advances in opera and instrumental composing interacted. His increasingly sophisticated use of the orchestra in the symphonies and concerti served as a resource in his operatic orchestration, and his developing subtlety in using the orchestra to psychological effect in his operas was reflected in his later non-operatic compositions.
Introitus
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion, et Tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem.
Exaudi orationem meam, ad Te omnis caro veniet.
Dona eis Domine, dona eis requiem aeternam et lux perpetua luceat eis.
The lyrics of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's song "Introitus" express a plea for eternal rest and divine illumination for the departed souls. The first line "Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, Et lux perpetua luceat eis" means "Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them." The next line "Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion, et Tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem" translates to "To You, God, in Zion, the hymn is due, and to You, a vow shall be fulfilled in Jerusalem." The hymn acknowledges the omnipotence and majesty of God and the need to praise and fulfill vows to Him.
The third line "Exaudi orationem meam, ad Te omnis caro veniet" means "Hear my prayer, to You all flesh shall come." The line implies the universal aspect of God's judgment, where all human beings will be judged by God. The final line "Dona eis Domine, dona eis requiem aeternam et lux perpetua luceat eis" repeats the plea for eternal rest and divine illumination implied in the first line.
Overall, the lyrics to "Introitus" reflect the solemnity and reverence associated with the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass, which is a service held for the dead. The song's themes of judgment, eternal rest, and divine illumination are consistent with the Requiem Mass's focus on the afterlife, human mortality, and divine justice.
Line by Line Meaning
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, Et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, And let perpetual light shine upon them.
Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion, et Tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem.
To You, God, a hymn of praise is due in Zion, and to You shall a vow be fulfilled in Jerusalem.
Exaudi orationem meam, ad Te omnis caro veniet.
Hear my prayer, to You all flesh shall come.
Dona eis Domine, dona eis requiem aeternam et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Grant them, O Lord, grant them eternal rest and let perpetual light shine upon them.
Contributed by Jayden W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@syncmeandroid
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine
(Grant them eternal rest, Lord)
Et lux perpetua Luceat eis
(And let perpetual light shine upon them.)
Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion
(The hymn adorns you, God, in Zion)
Et Tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem
(And the promise will be returned to you in Jerusalem)
Exaudi orationem meam
(Heed my prayer)
Ad Te omnis caro veniet
(All flesh will come to you)
Dona eis, Domine
(Grant them Lord)
dona eis requiem aeternam
(grant them eternal rest)
Et lux perpetua luceat eis
(And let perpetual light shine upon them)
@ClassicCase
If you like this one, you'll love Chopin's Nocturne B49 too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aILRZx2iiBY&ab_channel=ClassicalYoutubeMusic
@kuutti6777
How about Valse Triste?🤔
@garethhughes2826
Has to be mozart
@Nastyfinger1444
Still my favorite part of the Mozart Requiem.
@itsblitz4437
You know what same here. Because after hearing this track in the BBC documentary Rise of the Nazis that played this particular track, it just felt so powerful and symbolic.
@wolfgangamadeusmozart1816
Still waiting for Beethoven's requiem.
@cantavanda
Haha!
@peter76623
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart What about Missa Solemnis? I know it's not a death mass, but it is a mass
@marionkoetse3985
Please listen to The Great Messe in C minor ( Gardiner!!), that excels his Requiem, incredible beautiful ( there's no piece in the Requiem that is to compare with the outstanding " Qui Tollis" of the Great Mass)
@eglolm2387
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart hello Mozart 😂😂😂