Requiem de Mozart

In this program, the Ensemble Bonne Corde presents Mozart’s Requiem in an anonymous version preserved in manuscript in the Musical Archive of the Cathedral of Évora, in which the orchestra is replaced by a group of lower-register instruments, with solo cellos and bassoons accompanying eight voices. This “orchestra” of bass instruments, which attempts to emulate the writing of a classical orchestra, became a tradition at the Portuguese court until the first half of the 19th century and was later disseminated to other parts of the country.

This type of scoring, unique in the European context, emerged in the final decades of the 18th century at the Portuguese court and was often associated with moments of particular solemnity, such as All Souls’ Day or funeral ceremonies. It is in this context that we find in Évora this version of what was undoubtedly the German-origin work of greatest circulation in Portugal until the mid-19th century: W. A. Mozart’s Requiem.