Mozart passed away on this day in 1791. These were his final words.

Today marks the anniversary of one of the world's most notable and celebrated composers, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Mozart was just 35 years old when he passed away on December 5, 1791. He was at his home in Vienna, Austria, at the time of his death and there is much contention surrounding the details of his death.

Hermann Abert's biography of Mozart follows the more traditional timeline surrounding the final days of Mozart. It relies on accounts from Mozart's widow, Constanze, as well as her sister Sophie Weber. They state that the composer's health was declining in the summer of 1791 when he travelled to Progue for the performance of his new opera La clemenza di Tito (K. 621). 

By the time he returned to Vienna in September an article published in Musikalisches Wochenblatt ("Musical Weekly") after his death says that his health had quickly been declining. These accounts state that his wife encouraged him to take a break from working on Requiem, but that he stated he was writing the work for himself. Franz Niemetschek's biography says that, " Tears came to the eyes of the sensitive man: 'I feel definitely', he continued, 'that I will not last much longer; I am sure I have been poisoned. I cannot rid myself of this idea.'"

Related Stories:

• ‘An opera singer from a slum’: Venezuelan soprano Maria Brea
• CanCan Macabre: Cellist Sophie Shao records two magnificent new works for cello
• Acclaimed opera director Michael Cavanagh dies

Mozart was convinced that he was being poisoned, and by November 20 he became bedridden, suffering from swelling, pain and vomiting, according to these accounts.

Recent scholarship has pushed back against this idea that Mozart had been in steady decline for several months, however.

In 2007 the Canadian musicologist Cliff Eisen reissued Abert's biography. The new edition includes a footnote which states:

in this context, the evidence cited by Abert is selective and suits the intended trajectory of his biography. With the exception of citations from Mozart's letters, all of the testimony is posthumous and prompted by complicated motives both personal and financial. Although it is 'authentic' in the sense that it derives from those who witnessed Mozart's death, or were close to him, it is not necessarily accurate. ... To be sure, Mozart was under the weather in Prague. But there is no evidence that he was 'very ill' and it is not true that his health 'continued to deteriorate'. As Abert himself notes later in this chapter, Mozart's health improved in October and early November.

Speculation and disagreement over the timeline and cause of death have continued, and the answers will likely never be known.

What were his final words?

Traditional accounts say that Mozart's health was improving in the early days of December. However, he was still concerned about his impending death and apparently had gathered friends around him to sing through some of the completed parts of his Requiem. Tradition also states that when they had finished, Mozart pulled Süssmayr close to him and told the friend how to finish the work. 

On the evening of December 4, 1791, Constanze visited with him, and he appeared to be well. However, later that evening his sister-in-law Sophie came in to visit and worried about his health. She fetched the doctor, who came to find Mozart battling a high fever.

"The taste of death is upon my lips. I feel something that is not of this earth," Mozart uttered. The doctor applied a cold compress but the composer became unconscious and never awoke. However, tradition also holds that the final sounds to come from his lips were actually an attempt to hum one of the drum parts to Requiem.

At 12:55 a.m. Mozart was pronounced deceased. It is said that Constanze "wept uncontrollably" by his side and refused to leave.