Santu De Silva wrote:
>Friends, I have a request. So far I have heard about completions by
>Sussmeyer, Eubler, Maunder, Levine, and Bloch(?) Are there others? Can
>some kind sould post a summary along the lines I've suggested?
First of all a few comments on your post. The recordings you mentioned use
different completions. The first must be a Decca CD where Marriner uses
the Franz Beyer completion. The second one, recorded by Gardiner, is the
standard Sussmayr. I don't own the Gardiner's CD but I presume that if his
lacrymosa is not like the one you are used to it's only his fault, not
Sussmayr's.
To my knowledge, there are six different completions of Mozart's unfinished
score.
1. The standard Sussmayr completion made some months after Mozart's
death and published by Barenreiter in the Neue Mozarts Ausgabe in 1965.
This edition presents some other composers with important work on the
score. Joseph Eybler, the composer Konstanze Mozart first turned to, who
completed the orchestration for almost the entire Sequence on Mozart's
original autograph (Sussmayr used this score to compose his completion);
Franz Jakob Freystadtler may have participated in the orchestration of the
Kyrie fugue; Abbe Maximilian Stadler worked on the orchestration of the
Offertorium. Only the Sanctus and Benedictus (with the Hosanna fugue and
the end of both) were full composed by Sussmayr.
2. The Franz Beyer edition, published by Eulenburg (Zurich) in 1971.
This German musicologist tried to get rid of Sussmayr's claimed lousy
orchestration. He didn't went too far... his version is almost identical
to Sussmayr's, some major changes can be noted in Tuba Mirum and at the end
of both Hosanna fugues. It has been recorded also by Bernstein, Kuijken
and others.
3. The Richard Maunder edition, published in Cambridge (1986). Maunder
eliminated the two final movements (Sanctus and Benedictus) and the Hosanna
fugue that ends both sections. He doesn't believe that this sections music
has something to do with Mozart and for that reason they should not be
presented in a work composed by the Austrian master. He also changes the
Lacrymosa providing a new ending for it: the Amen fugue Mozart was working
on and probably meant to be used to finish the sequence. He re-orchestrate
much of Sussmayr's score trying to come up with the most mozartean
completion available. It has been recorded by Hogwood on Decca
(L'Oiseau-Lyre).
4. The Duncan Druce edition, published in 1992 (Holmbridge). This
completion also eliminates all the material composed by Sussmayr, but
instead of ignoring the Sanctus and Benedictus like Maunder, he presents
new compositions to complete the entire Requiem. He also uses the Amen
fugue and the end of the Lacrymosa. Norrington recorded that edition for
EMI (now on Virgin Veritas).
5. The Robert D. Levin completion, published in 1993 (Freiburg im
Breisgau). This version is regarded by some (I am one of them) as the
most careful and academic version of this work. He supports his work on a
very careful historical research, using the original scores and some other
documents left by Mozart's close friends. He also re-writes Sussmayr score
and also uses the Amen fugue to complete the Lacrymosa. The recording made
by Pearlman is IMHO one of the best available, regarding to version and
performance.
6. The H.C. Robbins Landon edition - Chaeau de Foncoussieres/Tarn, 1991.
This version was completed in a couple of days to be presented at the 200th
Anniversary of Mozart's death concert in Vienna's St. Stephen Cathedral
(conducted by Georg Solti). Some say it's a cut & paste version using
Eybler's score and Robbins Landon own compositions. I never heard it
myself, but since H.C.Robbins Landon is regarded as one of the best
Mozart's scholars we have to give him some credits and at least listen
to it ourselves.
Those are the completions I know of. You mention a Bloch completion
(although you are not sure about that...) which I never heard.
Hope this helps,
Luis
Mozart's Requiem Discography Homepage:
http://www.terravista.pt/portosanto/1090/req_disco.htm
|
