As a whole, Mozart’s Requiem is a grandiose work, sublime in its evocation of salvation and eternal rest, and fearsome in its visions of the Last Judgment. The grand forces that meet the eye — four soloists, chorus, and orchestra — suggest drama and spectacle, even if the scoring is dark: the lighter hues of flutes and oboes are omitted in favor of basset horns (cousins of the clarinet), bassoons, a choir of trombones, and strings in their lower registers. Even trumpets and timpani are used less for their ceremonial qualities than as emulsifiers of the texture.
The late Gerhardt Zimmermann was remembered with affection by family and friends in a concert given by the Canton Symphony Orchestra at Umstaddt Hall on Sunday, September 10.