Mozart's famous Requiem in D minor KV 626 recorded by string quartet using a historical instrumantarium. Listening to this record we can move to the end of 18th century with all necessary aspects. This is beautiful, moving and exquisite Classicism.

15 MP3 Songs in this album (55:30) !
Related styles: Classical: Mozart, Classical: Early Music, Instrumental

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Details:
The quartet Musicarius was founded in 2003 as a result of pursuits and passions of its members. The musicians are trying to create a new quality in a string quartet. Co-operation with actors, alternative musicians, electronic experiments and most of all a consequent pursuit of historical and stylistic authenticity in performing music, make the band extremly interesting on the present music scene in Poland. The musicians co-operate with various cameral bands, which allows them to use many different impulses for varsatile development. The artists have already made many phonographic recordings, however the present album is the first recording of this kind, both stylistically and conceptually.

Praface to album by Zbigniew Pilch:

Here I have got a new beautiful record of the âMusicariusâ band. At the first glance it seems, that there are plenty of such records on the European market, because the material presents compositions of one of the most brilliant, but also popular composers of all time â Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the âMusicariusâ is a string quartet, which is the most common cameral form.
But closer acquaintance with this recording allows to notice the originality, rareness and enormous aristic significance of the record. Letâs consider several aspects of this recording.
As I have already mentioned, we are dealing with Mozartâs masterpieces. However, we canât expect this insolent, giggling and maligant Dasher,whom we remember from Milos Formanâs film âAmadeusâ. We are dealing with composer who is concentrated, mature and has eyes fixed on the past â on the great art of Johann Sebastian Bach. Having discoverd in Leipzig the works of the Great Cantor, Mozart made many attempts to compose works, which referred to artistic, polyphonic Baroque style. The present recording includes unusual Adagio and Fugue c-minor KV 546, which shows a very powerful influence of Bachâs fugue style. Certainly it isnât a Baroque pasticcio, Mozart is looking simply far ahead into the future in dealing with the form and above all in harmonic thinking.
How much Mozart appreciated Bachâs compositions, we can notice in his descriptions of the fugues by the Leipzig Cantor. In Koehlâs Catalogue under the number 404 were written three-voice Bachâs fugues, which were arranged by Mozart for a string trio and also supplied with additionally composed Adagio. However the Koehlâs Catalogue under the number 405 includes fugues from Das Wohltemperierte Klavier, which were adopted for a string quartet. But this time Mozart didnât composed incroductory parts.
Fortunately Adolf Hoffmann from the Moeseler publishing house chose and personally assigned, which was in my opinion very accurate, to every fugue an Adagio with corresponding tons and character.
Finally the greatest work recorded by the âMusicariusâ is the Requiem, which is the most famous work of all Black Masses. The second aspect, which shows the uniqueness of this record is the art of transcription. This is an skillful art, cultivated though centuries, today unfortunately almost forgotten.
It is known, that the Requiem was composed (but unfinished) by Mozart to be a choir: solo voices and orchestra, where despite strings we can find an unusual set of brass instruments. There arenât neither oboes, nor horns, but there are trumpets with kettle-drums, bassoons, trombones and basset horns. The âMusicariusâ are performing the Requiem in a string quartet version. How is it possible? Well in the 18th and 19th centuries transcription practice was so popular that it was difficult to imagine that a carain composition could be presented in just one, basic version. And so symphonies, for example, have a version for the piano, for two or four hands, a trio, a quartet, or a string quintet, opera arias could be transcribed for two flutes etc. However Adagio and Fugue KV 546 from our record were written for two pianos (KV 426). We know the version of the famous g-minor KV 550 symphony for a string quintet, and from here it is not far to Beethovenâs own remake of II Symphony for the piano trio.
What was the purpose of these transcriptios? Undoubtedly economical. One product could be sold repeatedly, but still in those times not everyone could afford to collect a dozen of musicians to perform a certain symphonic work, or vocal â instrumental an the original, whereas an invitation of a few musicians from a string quartet was more probable. In the past, when you wanted to listen to your favourite composition, you should pay the musician performers or play it by yourself. The âMusicariusâ recorded Mozartâs Requiem in the trancription of Peter Lichtenthal (1780-1853). It is interesting to note how he re-instrumented Mozartâs work. Every of the quartet instruments is independent and as important as the others. Letâs see for example the viola part, which is associated with harmonic filling of the composition. And so the viola is imitation the kettledrum part in Sanctus, then also the trombone solo part in Tuba Mirum, participates in all polyphonic, fugue fragments.
We are approaching another aspect â the selection of instruments. We are dealing with a string quartet, however it is not treated in an usual way. I must state thet the âMusicariusâ are referring in its recording to an instrumental consort tradition from 16th and 17th centuries. As a consort we understand a set of homogeneous instruments, which differ only in their size and as a consequence the ambituse. In those times the consorts of recorders were built, from the tiny sopranino to the double â bass size, as well as many sorts of trombones, pomorts, viola da gamba and basically all kinds of instruments. There was also a violine consort, but it was quite overshadowed by the viola da gamba consort. A classical string quartet provides a certain supremacy of the first violins over the other parts, but here we have an unusual opportunity to delight in the consort violin sound, where all parts are equal. Besides if we mention the fact that the âMusicariusâ are using a historical instrumentarium â not only the instruments, but also fiddlesticts, strings and historical practice, we get to the essence of this beautiful and valuable artistic intension of the âMusicariusâ. Listening to this record, we can move to the end of 18th century with all necessary aspects, however not to the light, cheerful and sometimes even banal classicism, but to the period, where we have got on the one hand Strum und Drang and on the other hand on the horison appears a spirit ot the Romanticism. It is a moving, dark, tragic and exquisit Classicism. In my oppinionit is an amazing record.