LEWISTON — The Maine Music Society Chorale and Orchestra will present a program featuring Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Requiem at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 24, and at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 25, at the Gendron Franco Center, 46 Cedar St. 

They will be joined by professional soloists Sarah Bailey, Jazmin DeRice, Martin Lescault and Carl Steidel. 

For whom did Mozart compose this requiem, a work shrouded in mystery? Since he was composing it literally on his deathbed, dictating to his assistant Sussmayr, who completed it after Mozart’s death? Although much of the music exists only in sketches, the Requiem has become one of the most beloved of Mozart’s works.

Mozart was a freakishly gifted and highly trained child musician. From a young age he composed in all musical genres from opera to ballroom. In the Requiem, he not only deployed these diverse musical types to create dramatic contrasts between one part of the text and another, but also melded them to create vivid musical textures.

This musical program also includes the Solemn Vespers for the Sabbath composed at the request of the Archbishop when Mozart was only in his 20s. Here, too, listeners will find contrasts as the trumpets, trombones and drums provide a militant tone to the opening psalm, but then, in the second psalm the violins and soloists create a soothing and intimate ambience.

Throughout the Vespers and the Requiem, Mozart displays his mastery of musical styles ensuring that the listener is never bored. It is interesting to note that some of the themes are regularly used for TV commercials. 

Advance ticket prices for general seating are adults: $25, seniors: $22, students: $10. Children under 12 are free when accompanied by an adult. Group rates: 20 percent off groups of 10 or more. Ticket prices will each be $2 more at the door.

For tickets, call 207-333-3386, purchase online at www.mainemusicsociety.org, or visit the box office on the second floor of the Gendron Franco Center, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Maine Music Society Chorale