Mozart's untimely death at the age of 35 — from syphilis? Rheumatic fever? Food poisoning? Exhaustion? — cut short the composition of his Requiem Mass. And it turns out he may not have been the only casualty.

The first instalment of Classical (De)Composition, a new video series written by CBC Radio 2's Tom Allen, investigates the curse of Mozart's Requiem. Illustrations by Greg Stevenson, i2i Art Inc. Watch it below.

More to explore:

Watch Couloir play music by Saint-Saëns and Villa-Lobos

How do orchestras play in sync? Tom Allen breaks it down

We can't stop watching this video for Ann Southam's Glass Houses No. 5