If you go
What: Longmont Chorale performs "Requiem: Mozart's Last Words"
When: 3 p.m., Sunday, March 11
Where: LifeBridge Christian Church, 10345 Ute Highway, Longmont
Cost: $5-$17
More info:longmontchorale.org
Some say music died the day Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart took his last breath nearly 230 years ago, but his incomplete Requiem has long been celebrated. It holds a special place in the heart of the president of the Longmont Chorale, Bob Balsman.
When Balsman joined the Chorale in 2007, Mozart's Requiem was performed during his very first concert with the group.
"It's a special piece for me for that reason," said Balsman. "It's a challenging piece, but it's beautiful to listen to and a lot of fun to perform."
The Longmont Chorale will perform "Requiem: Mozart's Last Words" in concert at 3 p.m., Sunday, March 11 at LifeBridge Christian Church in Longmont. The Chorale, joined by guest soloists, will also perform various classical masterpieces, circa 1730-1820, and will be accompanied by members of the Longmont Symphony Orchestra.
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"Mozart's Requiem is one of the most intriguing musical masterpieces to have ever been written, and it truly was Mozart's last words," said Chorale artistic director Scott Hamlin, in an email. "But regardless of all the questions as to who wrote which parts of this Requiem, it has endured as one of the most beautiful musical works of all time."
When Mozart took his last breath, as history notes, the composer softly mouthed the sound of drums from his incomplete Requiem to his student Franz Süssmayr. He died writing the Requiem for his own death, some say.
Longmont Chorale artistic director Scott Hamlin directs the choir rehearsal. (Cliff Grassmick / Staff Photographer)
"It has very interesting history," said Balsman, a database administrator by day. "It would be easy to watch a movie like 'Amadeus,' where Hollywood took quite a bit of liberties with the script, but scholars have found different endings for Mozart's life."
The Chorale will perform the more contemporary completion of the piece by Robert Levin, who, Balsman said, corrected some of Süssmayr's compositional mistakes.
"Levin's completion flows better with how Mozart began the piece," said Balsman, noting that the first two movements were fully completed by Mozart then finished by Süssmayr, who was said to have been commissioned by Mozart's wife, Constanze, to complete the piece in order to collect commission. Süssmayr's is the traditionally accepted version, but Levin's completion reconstructs the "Amen" fugue from Mozart's own sketches of the Lacrimosa movement, said Balsman.
Hamlin said the Levin completion of 1995 "offers a fresh approach."
"This is one of his most important contributions, as he is considered an expert with the music of Mozart," said Hamlin.
Hamlin said he has sung the Requiem several times, including a couple years ago in Eisenstadt, Austria.
"It was an unbelievably moving experience to sing this in the Haydnsaal Concert Hall of the Esterházy Palace, where Beethoven, Haydn and Mozart performed some of their music," said Hamlin.
Balsman met his wife, Paula Balsman, through the Chorale when she joined the group in 2008, so this will be her first time singing the Requiem with the group.
"However, she is very well acquainted with the work, because we both enjoy listening to it so often," Balsman said. "For us, singing the Mozart Requiem is like visiting a good friend."
There will be 116 singers in the upcoming concert, Balsman said, noting that one alluring aspect to joining the Chorale is that it's an open, non-auditioned community choir where singers can join per concert. But the sturdy core crew that has been together for decades is a tight-knit and loyal group whose members are friends — and there's a handful of couples who've met through the Chorale, like the Balsmans.
The Longmont Chorale, which formed in 1937, has one of the largest chorale libraries in the state, said Balsman, and performs pieces from a wide range of genres — from classical to jazz to movie scores.
Christy Fantz: 303-473-1107, fantz@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/fantzypants
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