Requiem für Mignon

Requiem für Mignon is a six movement work by Robert Schumann for choir and orchestra. The work was originally composed in 1849, premiered in 1851, and runs approximately 13 minutes.

Development
Schumann was reportedly fascinated by Goethe's Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre and dedicated both parts of his Op. 98 to the book. Schuman was particularly interested a character named Mignon, a young woman born out of incest. The year of its composition marked the centenary of Goethe's birth, and Schumann acknowledged this in several of his works.

Schumann laid the foundation for the Mignon Requiem on July 2 and 3, 1849 and finished its orchestration in September of the same year. The work would premier in a concerto for Düsseldorf Allgemeiner Musikverein on November 21, 1951.

Content
Contrasting with other requiems of the time which represented masses for the dead, Requiem für Mignon describes only Mignon's funeral scene at the end of the book. In this scene, four coffin boys are reconciled by her death. These boys are represented by four adult female voices in Schumann's orchestration, but the work is sometimes performed with boys nevertheless.

Schumann ends the requiem on a semi-positive note, before Mignon's identity and origin are discovered. The work instead focuses on the girl's sickly life and her yearning for the immortal. The work ends by stating that her yearnings for the immortal are satisfied and that life is to continue.

Structure
The work consists of 6 movements that run without stopping: 1. Langsam - C minor - Chorus

2. Etwas bewegter - C minor - Soprano and Alto

3. Lebhaft -C major - Chorus

4. Feierlich, doch nicht zu langsam - F major - Chorus

5. Die Viertel wie vorher die Halben - C major - Bass

6. Lebhaft - C major - Chorus

Notable performances
Notable performances of the work include:


 * Bernhard Klee, Conductor
 * Chamber Orchestra of Europe, January 1, 1992
 * Michael Corboz, Conductor, 1998
 * William Dazeley, Conductor, January 1, 2010.
 * Conservatory of Innsbruch Choir, January 1, 2011