BRATTLEBORO — The Brattleboro Concert Choir's year-long celebration of director Susan Dedell's 25 years on the podium continues with a community sing of the Mozart Requiem on Sunday, March 1, at the River Garden on Main Street, at 3 p.m.
The Requiem in D minor, written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart just before his death in 1791, has always been shrouded in a bit of mystery. Commissioned by an unknown benefactor, Mozart was convinced it was to herald his own demise. So obsessed was he that its completion meant his own, he procrastinated until he finally did die, with the Requiem unfinished.
There are theories about who put the finishing touches on it, and to what extent those musical ideas were Mozart's. There is no argument, however, that Mozart's Requiem remains a much beloved and performed choral masterpiece.
While choirs continue to perform the Requiem around the world - including the Brattleboro Concert Choir in Dedell's first year, 1989, and again in 2005 - the chance to sit with friends and work through its choruses in an afternoon is a rare treat.
Scores will be provided and donations will be accepted to support the Concert Choir's performance of Handel's Samson in May at the Latchis Theatre.
More information is available at the Brattleboro Music Center at bmcvt.org.