The A Cappella Choir, College-Community Chorus and College-Community Orchestra will come together to host two performances of Mozart’s “Requiem Mass in D Minor” Saturday, Nov. 12 and Sunday Nov. 13.
Directors Mark Babcock, associate professor of music, and Ty Myers, assistant professor of music, host the first show at 7 p.m. at the Basilica of St. John in Des Moines.
Sunday’s performance, part of the Sunday Concert Series, will be held at 4 p.m. in Central’s Douwstra Auditorium.
“The ‘Requiem’ is a profound piece of music literature,” said Babcock. “It is associated with the finest output Mozart was capable of.”
Requiems were traditionally written to be performed during the Catholic Mass for the dead, which bears the same name. Several classical composers completed requiems of their own.
Commissioned by Franz von Walsegg, Mozart’s “Requiem” was the final composition of the composer’s prolific career. It was left unfinished following his death in 1791 and was completed by his contemporary Franz Xaver Süssmayr.
“It’s a very dramatic setting of the requiem text,” said Babcock. “It includes all of the fire and brimstone of Mozart’s time.”
Both events are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Debbie Abel at 641-628-5236 or abeld@central.edu.
