Requiem (Arman-Fassung)

SKU: CA.5165219

ISBN 9790007313883. Key: D minor. Latin.

The English conductor and composer Howard Arman has presented us with a completed version of Mozart�??s Requiem. �??Another one?�?� you might ask, since this publication is only the latest in a long line reaching back to the traditional Sü�?mayr version. Yet such is the enormous power of Mozart�??s score that the challenge and appeal of completing it remain undiminished. After two decades of intensive study, Howard Arman�??s additions to Mozart�??s great original show the requisite care and respect while incorporating many new insights.

Arman�??s approach is particularly fruitful. Always aware of the appropriate limits to such re-creative work, he orients himself towards the typical characteristics of Mozart�??s brilliant composing style: The masterly compositional technique, the search for innovative solutions to every problem, and even the terse treatment of the text with extremely suggestive harmonies. All of this leads to a number of new listening experiences. In the Tuba mirum, for example, we enjoy a warm, cohesive ensemble sound, supported by the bassoons, which depart from the bass line. The Confutatis presents a quite different picture: Even the basset horns are drawn down into the infernal depths. This effect is reinforced by the independence of the trombones; rather than simply following the choral parts, the instrument�??s unique sound is given an opportunity to shine. Arman�??s Lacrimosa achieves a lively Mozartian feel by granting the voices considerable freedom rather than following a rigid pattern. And he concludes the movement with a fugal Amen, whereby the focus is not so much on the counterpoint itself, but rather �?? in the spirit of Mozart �?? on creating a sense of drama and illuminating the theme in all its possible facets. Mozart�??s fragment ends with the Hostias, and so does Arman�??s completion.

For the four following movements (Sanctus to Communio) we have nothing from Mozart, and so here, where the master is silent, Arman finally returns to Sü�?mayr, the man who was closest to Mozart at the time of his death and whose efforts to fill the blank manuscripts still garner our respect today.

Arman�??s version has already proven its practical value. The premiere with the Bavarian Radio Choir was enthusiastically received by audiences and press alike �?? and celebrated as offering a scholarly, entirely fresh perspective on Mozart�??s masterpiece.

- World premiere by the Bavarian Radio Choir
- Enthusiastically received by audience and press.