Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Requiem haunts the imagination like no other work in the choral canon — left unfinished at its composer's death in 1791, it carries an almost mythic weight, a meditation on mortality written in the shadow of the composer's own, moving from shattering dramatic power to moments of heartbreaking tenderness.
For this performance, we use the completion by scholar and pianist Robert Levin, whose 1991 edition returned to Mozart's manuscripts with scrupulous care and deep stylistic sympathy.
Alongside it, we offer a revelation: the Missa Brevis in G, K. 49, Mozart's earliest surviving mass, composed when he was just twelve years old — already graceful, radiant, and fully alive to the sacred texts it sets.
Together, the two works frame an entire life in music, from its astonishing beginnings to its transcendent close.
This program also marks a joyful milestone: the first collaboration between The Emmanuel Choir and our chamber orchestra-in-residence, Mount Vernon Virtuosi, led by cellist and conductor Amit Peled, with soloists drawn from within the choir itself.
Join us for this free season-opening concert!