Video: Mozart Requiem in D Minor, K. 626 (Completed by David Bernard)

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This video clip contains an excerpt from a performance of David Bernard's completion of Mozart's Requiem by the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony with David Bernard conducting.

Why does Mozart's Requiem need completing?
Mozart died before completing the requiem. Only 38% of the score published as "Mozart's Requiem" was actually written by Mozart. The remainder was written by a series of composers whom Mozart's Widow hired to complete the score so she could collect eh commission owed to her late Husband.

At Mozart's death, the work was nowhere near being ready for publication or performance.
Mozart's approach was to compose each movement by writing out the complete vocal parts and the orchestral bass part in their entirety before even starting to write parts for other instruments. While Mozart did have the opportunity to write additional parts (mostly strings), with the exception of the opening movement, his writing was fragmentary at best. Wind, brass, timpani and string parts are practically non-existent. The lack of completion is especially shocking in the Lacrimosa, which has become the most popular movement in the work. Only 8 measures were provided by Mozart before he died, leaving the rest to be composed by others. To make matters worse, some movements were not even started. An Eighteenth Century Requiem must contain specific movements, as dictated by Religious and performance practices of the time, and in the case of the Requiem, five entire movements — Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei, Lux Aeterna and Cum Sanctis Tuis — had not even been begun at Mozart’s death.

David Bernard's Completion
Although this version was successful in getting Mozart's Widow paid, and has been enjoyed by audiences through the present day, it contains many issues that must be corrected for the work to reach its potential. Specifically:

Technical issues exist in part writing, including voice leading and cross relations.
The texture and melodic writing of many sections are not characteristic of Mozart
The length and substance of the Hosanna Fugue following the Sanctus is insufficient
Scoring the post-Benedictus reprise of the Hosanna Fugue in Bb betrays a lack of compositional skill

Maestro Bernard's completion retains the work’s performance tradition while making adjustments to correct orchestration, voice-leading and structure. Changes to orchestration and figuration are made throughout the work that better leverage the available instrumental colors in Mozart’s style. Soloist doubling is simplified, but the grand instrumentation is retained where appropriate. The traditional structure of the Lacrimosa is retained, with adjustments to the Violin figuration and voice leading. The Hosanna Fugue is rewritten, both following the Sanctus and in its shorter form after the Benedictus. Bernard has also rewritten sections of the Benedictus to ensure a Mozartean transition and modulation to the Hosanna fugue reprise in D.