It was the summer of 1791 when Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was commissioned to write a Requeim Mass by a grim, mysterious stranger. The name of the patron could not be revealed. Mozart was already gravely ill, and as he composed the Requiem he was tormented by visions of the stranger, who would make occasional visits to make sure that the work was progressing.
Mozart’s condition kept deteriorating, and he began to believe that he had been poisoned. By late November, he was bedridden, but he tried desperately to finish the Requiem. He died at about 1am on December 5. They say that as he passed away he was playing, with tears in his eyes, the “Lacrimosa,” the last part he as able to compose.