Art Talk

Art Talk: UW chorus, players soared in Mozart's Requiem for holidays Jacob Stockinger - Requiems are not your usual fare when its comes to holiday music.

[joseph wiesenfarth]

One never makes a mistake when one goes to hear Beverly Taylor conduct. It's not only what she gets from the Choral Union, it's what the chorus so unstintingly give to her. That she could do Mozart's Requiem with them, as she did Brahms's, without a score in front of her indicates that every note and every word are part of her being, which makes it part of theirs. It's more than remarkable; it's genius. I'm ready for more.

[A Choral Union singer]

You said: "phrases that only Mozart could write."

You do realize that the "Requiem" was not written mostly by Mozart, right? The only movements that were completed by him are the "Introitus" and "Kyrie." Sketches by him of a lot of the other movements were there, but not written out in any entirety by Mozart. Some of the movements were even written probably only by Süssmayr, as that is the version we sung.

That being said, I'm glad you enjoyed the performance. The "Requiem" will always appeal to everyone regardless of the time of year, I think, because it really is a fantastic work (even if not written in its entirety by Mozart ;)).

Best classical holiday music? Händel's "Messiah" and Bach's "Christmas Oratorio" in my opnion.

I like the idea of singing Beethoven's "Ninth" for a holiday tradition, just because of what its text means.