Requiem (Mozart) - The Autograph at The 1958 World's Fair

The Autograph At The 1958 World's Fair

The autograph of the Requiem was placed on display at the World's Fair in 1958 in Brussels. At some point during the fair, someone was able to gain access to the manuscript, tearing off the bottom right-hand corner of the second to last page (folio 99r/45r), containing the words "Quam olim d: C:" (an instruction that the "Quam olim" fugue of the Domine Jesu was to be repeated "da capo", at the end of the Hostias). As of 2012 the perpetrator has not been identified and the fragment has not been recovered.

If the most common authorship theory is true, then "Quam olim d: C:" might very well be the last words Mozart wrote before he died. It is probable that whoever stole the fragment believed that to be the case.

However, according to papers in the estate of Dr. Leopold Nowak (who, as head of the music collection of the Austrian National Library, was in charge of the manuscript's transport to Brussels) it is obvious that there is absolutely no proof that the damage of the manuscript actually took place during the World's Fair in Brussels. The state of the autograph was not examined before the exhibition and the loss of the corner of the page in question might well have taken place long before 1958.