About: Mozart's 1791 Requiem is considered the last piece he ever composed, although portions of it were left unfinished. The Lacrimosa (or Lacrymosa) had only eight bars composed by the time of Mozart's death. The remainder of the work was composed by Franz Xaver Süssmayr in 1792. The work was written to commemorate the death of Count Franz von Walsegg's wife. The text of the Lacrimosa (which literally means tearful) was taken from the last two stanzas of the "Dies Irae," a Latin hymn used as the sequence for the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass. Lyrics in Latin and English are below:
Lacrimosa dies illa,
Qua resurget ex favilla,
Judicandus homo reus.
Huic ergo parce, Deus:
Pie Jesu Domine,
Dona eis requiem. Amen.
Ah! that day of tears and mourning,
From the dust of earth returning
Man for judgement must prepare him,
Spare, O God, in mercy spare him.
Lord, all-pitying, Jesus blest,
Grant them Thine eternal rest. Amen.
Qua resurget ex favilla,
Judicandus homo reus.
Huic ergo parce, Deus:
Pie Jesu Domine,
Dona eis requiem. Amen.
Ah! that day of tears and mourning,
From the dust of earth returning
Man for judgement must prepare him,
Spare, O God, in mercy spare him.
Lord, all-pitying, Jesus blest,
Grant them Thine eternal rest. Amen.
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