I consider myself relatively well versed in classic/romantic era music, but hearing this number it sounds near out of place; i.e., it surprises me that its Mozart. I can hear him in the running violins, but I have always found Mozart to be more baroque in style rather than romantic. This piece I nearly would have laid claim to Beethoven. Then again, Mozart was his teacher, after all. Alas, so life returns.
There are many occasions when I've heard something by Mozart and noted a strong resemblance to Beethoven. I note that Mozart post-dated the baroque and, for me, his work seldom sounds baroque at all. For one thing, he used the fledgling fortepiano quite a bit, strung on a wood frame with 61 keys, so lighter in sound than the more fully developed, larger 88-key piano strung on a metal framework, but a piano nonetheless, capable of varying dynamics. I think of works like Eine kleine Nachtmusik or the Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major -- nothing baroque about those. I note that baroque music used terraced dynamics and basso continuo. Mozart freely used crescendos and diminuendos and never used basso continuo or organ, harpsichord or lute. Handel and Bach were born in 1685, and Mozart was born in 1756, three years before Handel's death in 1759 at age 74. Mozart baroque? Not for one minute in my view.
Io non credo in Dio, e non penso nemmeno che questa versione di Solti sia la più bella, ma sapendo della circostanza dell'anniversario non è nemmeno il caso di discutere: penso che il nostro Mozart sia stato un profeta divino. Non saprei dire altro e se Dio c'è, che lo aiuti e lo abbia sempre in gloria, come massimo uomo mai comparso e massima voce di umano e divino veramente; ogni volta che lo ascolto tanto mi riesce a dare da volere pregare per lui e sperare che in cielo riceva tutto il merito
Dies irae, dies illa Solvet saeclum in favilla, Teste David cum Sibylla. Quantus tremor est futurus Quando judex est venturus Cuncta stricte discussurus.
@devilxhlywood I do like it, though. You're right, after more research I found that 'dies irae' was undoubtedly written by Mozart, and the later parts of the 'requiem' collection may have been written by Franz Xaver Sussmayr.
@guitarguru1000 I liked this piece, before I knew it was Mozart. All the other Mozart I've heard I don't like much. Hmmm. However, it is unknown how much of this piece was written by Mozart himself and not another composer who took over (look it up).
