Mozart's Requiem Mass in D Minor I - Introitus and Kyrie

John Eliot Gardiner conducts the English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Choir. This performance was filmed at the Palau de la Musica Catalana, Barcelona in Dec. 1991.

A Requiem Mass in the Roman Catholic tradition is a service designed to pray for the souls of the departed. The parts of the liturgy that are meant to be sung are what constitute all Requiem Mass compositions, including Mozart's.

The structure is as follows:
1. Introit
2. Kyrie
3. Sequence:
a. Dies irae
b. Tuba mirum
c. Rex tremendae
d. Recordare
e. Confutatis
f. Lacrimosa
4. Offertory:
a. Domine Jesu Christe
b. Hostias
5. Sanctus
6. Benedictus
7. Agnus Dei
8. Lux Aeterna

Mozart died before finishing the Requiem Mass, and his wife Constanze gave the task of finishing the work to a pupil of Mozart's named Süssmayr. From the Sanctus onward, the Requiem is the creation of Süssmayr, though he did use portions of the Introit and Kyrie for the Lux Aeterna.

Despite, or maybe partially because of, the controversy surrounding this Requiem Mass, it is widely regarded as Mozart's greatest masterpiece.

Below is the Latin and the English translation for the Introit and Kyrie.

Introit

Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine
Eternal rest grant unto them, Lord
Requiem æternam dona eis
Eternal rest grant unto them
et lux perpetua
and perpetual light
et lux perpetua luceat
and perpetual light shine
luceat eis.
shine on them.

Te decet hymnus Deus
A hymn comes to you
in Sion
in Zion
et tibi reddetur votum in Ierusalem.
and to you a vow shall be repaid in Jerusalem.
Exaudi Exaudi Exaudi
Hear, hear, hear
orationem meam
my prayer
ad te, ad te
to you, to you
omnis caro veniet.
all flesh will come.

Requiem æternam dona eis,
Requiem æternam dona eis,
Domine et lux perpetua
et lux perpetua
et lux perpetua
luceat eis.
luceat eis.

Kyrie

Kyrie eleison, eleison.
God have mercy.
Kyrie eleison, eleison.
Kyrie eleison, eleison.
etc.

Christe eleison, eleison.
Christ have mercy.
Christe eleison, eleison.
etc.

Kyrie eleison.
God have mercy.