United Voices and Chamber Orchestra under the Baton of Dr. Greg Caisley, Co-Director of Music at Dunbar Ryerson United Church present Mozart's Requiem.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Requiem Mass in D minor was incomplete at his untimely death in 1791. A widowed member of the aristocracy—Count Franz von Walsegg—had commissioned the requiem to honour the death of his wife.

Mozart’s feisty 29-year-old widow Constanze was now unable to deliver a complete musical setting of the Latin for the Requiem Mass and, therefore, unable to be paid the remainder of Mozart’s fee. Her household consisted of her seven-year-old son Karl Thomas, her five-month-old son Franz Xaver Wolfgang and herself; she needed the money.

Constanze Mozart approached other orchestral composers, including Franz Xaver Süssmayr, to complete the work her husband had begun. Having worked as a copyist for some of Mozart’s operas, Süssmayr was able to complete Mozart’s manuscript in 1792 in ways that honour the composer’s broad musical palette.

The musical world is indebted to Mozart, his widow Constanze, Count Franz von Walsegg, and Franz Xaver Süssmayr for the compelling brilliance that is acclaimed as one of the most popular classical requiems among audiences and singers alike—Mozart’s Requiem.

Join the United Voices and Chamber Orchestra along with soloists Orla Brundrett, soprano; Melissa Howell, alto; Clinton Stoffberg, tenor and Javier Rodriguez-Martin, bass for this musical masterpiece in a sacred space.

Tickets are also available at the door.

Doors open at 6:30 PM on Friday night, at 1:30 PM on Saturday.

United Voices and Chamber Orchestra is a music ministry of Dunbar Ryerson United Church.