The night of Mozart's death

“The night of Mozart's death was dark and stormy; at the funeral, too, it began to rage and storm. Rain and snow fell at the same time, as if Nature wanted to shew her anger with the great composer's contemporaries, who had turned out extremely sparsely for his burial. Only a few friends and three women accompanied the corpse. Mozart's wife was not present. These few people with their umbrellas stood round the bier, which then taken via the Grosse Schullerstrasse to the St. Marx Cemetery. As the storm grew ever more violent, even these few friends determined to turn back at the Stuben Gate, and they betook themselves to the "Silver Snake". Deiner, the landlord, was also present for the funeral.” - description of Mozart's funeral, attributed to Joseph Deiner (1856)

This description has become part of the myth of the death of Mozart, yet the account of stormy, miserable weather is contrary to meteorological records from the previous day, which suggest more ordinary conditions. Like many aspects of Mozart’s death in 1791, later retellings blurred fact and drama. He died at the age of thirty-five after a short illness, attended by his wife Constanze and a few close companions, but no definitive medical diagnosis was recorded, leaving historians to debate the cause of death.

His burial further contributed to the mystery. In accordance with Viennese customs for middle-class citizens, Mozart was buried in a common grave, and the exact location was never marked.

Illustration of the journey of Mozart's coffin through a storm to the cemetery by Joseph Heicke. Engraving from about 1860.

One of the strangest legends associated with Mozart's death is that his skull was stolen or secretly preserved. According to a 19th-century story, a gravedigger who believed he recognised Mozart’s body removed the skull and kept it as a relic. A skull said to be Mozart’s surfaced decades later and is now held by a museum, but scientific tests have never been able to prove conclusively that it is his.

A copy of what could be Mozart’s skull is shown in Salzburg

The film Amadeus dramatises Mozart’s death, showing him attended by Salieri, who is portrayed as jealous and scheming. The portrayal of Salieri as hostile toward Mozart is largely fictional. In reality, Salieri did not hate Mozart; they were professional colleagues in Vienna, and Salieri even praised Mozart’s talent. He did not complete the Requiem—that task was carried out by Mozart’s student Franz Xaver Süssmayr—and there is no historical record of Salieri being present at Mozart’s death.

Mozart Expirant (The Dying Mozart) (1877) by Rinaldo Carniel

Statue:- Mozart expirant (The Dying Mozart) (1877) by Rinaldo Carnielo, Bordeaux, musée des Beaux-Arts

Statue:- Mozart expirant (The Dying Mozart) (1877) by Rinaldo Carnielo, Bordeaux, musée des Beaux-Arts

Below are images of the handwritten score for Mozart’s Requiem, a work that stops abruptly, as he died before completing it.

This scan shows the opening page of Mozart’s manuscript for the Requiem in D minor, K. 626, revealing his handwriting and musical notation.

This is another autograph page showing part of the dramatic Dies Irae sequence written by Mozart himself.

This page is a manuscript leaf of the Lacrimosa, the famous slow lament in the Requiem, written by Mozart himself before the work breaks off (his composition stops after a few bars because he died before finishing it).

Mozart’s full signature as it appears on an original document, “W. A. Mozart” with a flourish underneath.

Below is the earliest dated newspaper report of Mozarts death. Although published on 13 Dec, the report is dated 6 Dec 1791, the day after Mozart’s death. Its quick filing suggests the correspondent may have had contacts within the composer’s circle.

Earliest know report of the death of Mozart

"Vienna, 6 December Music has suffered an irreplaceable loss; Mr. Mozart, the artist and beloved of our age, gave up his beautiful, harmonious spirit last night and now joins his heavenly tones in the choirs of the immortals. He died too soon for his family and for the art, to which he would have still offered many monuments of his abilities. His last work was the composition of a cantata, which he presented to the local Freemasons, of which he was a member, on the occasion of the inauguration of their new temple, and which is said to be a masterpiece of noble simplicity. He was the foremost master at the clavier and, out of modesty, recognised many as greater than himself."