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The In Memoriam segment at the 97th Academy Awards, held March 2, 2025, was set to Mozart’s Requiem in D minor, performed by the Academy Orchestra with the Los Angeles Master Chorale. The choice was deliberate. The show’s producers wanted a solemn choral-and-orchestral moment that felt specifically like the Oscars, not a featured singer’s ballad. Some viewers, however, heard the music as frightening or too dark for a memorial. Both points are documented, and they describe different things: the producers’ intent and the audience’s reaction.
What was performed
Coverage from CBS News and Variety identifies the piece as Mozart’s Requiem and the performers as the Academy Orchestra and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. The segment was a choral-and-orchestral presentation rather than a memorial song delivered by a solo pop or film performer, which is the format most awards broadcasts use for this moment. The sources reviewed do not confirm which individual movement was performed, so this article refers only to the Requiem as a whole.
Why the producers chose it
The clearest explanation comes from Rob Mills, Walt Disney Television executive vice president of unscripted and alternative entertainment, who spoke to Variety about the production’s thinking. Three reasons stand out in his account.
Setting the Oscars apart from other awards shows
Mills said the producers wanted the In Memoriam segment to differ from the tribute format common on other awards broadcasts, where a featured singer is a familiar choice. Leaning on orchestral and choral music was meant to make the Oscars recognizable by sound. In his words: “I do think our superpower is, whether it’s film scores, orchestral music to those scenes where you do then do the sound ups of the actors, that’s the Oscars.”
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Making the segment about film
The second reason was the Academy’s own identity. Mills said: “I think that it is more about making it about film.” A segment built on a score, rather than a pop vocal, puts the orchestra and the film tradition at the centre of the tribute.
The Amadeus connection
Mills also pointed out that the music comes from an Oscar-winning film. He said: “It is from an Oscar winner, ‘Amadeus.'” This strengthened the film-centred rationale: the Requiem was presented as music with its own screen history connected to the Academy’s awards. The Variety interview is the only source reviewed that gives the producers’ reasoning in their own words, so it is best read as the production team’s stated intent rather than an independent verdict.
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Why some viewers found it frightening
The reaction was not uniform. The Independent reproduced social-media posts that asked, “Why are they playing such scary music during the in memoriam?” and described the music as “kind of terrifying.” Those comments were individual phrasings, not a sample of the audience. The Los Angeles Times live coverage of the broadcast described the choice as “Heavy. Dark.”
The complaint, in short, was about tone. For viewers who expected a softer memorial, the low, weighty choral sound felt ominous at a moment usually framed by gentle images and quiet music.
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Intent versus reception
The producers and the critics were describing the same qualities from opposite sides. The table below separates what the production said it wanted from what the reported reactions describe.
| Element of the segment | Production rationale (Mills, Variety) | Reported viewer reaction (The Independent, Los Angeles Times) |
|---|---|---|
| Musical format | Orchestral and choral music, chosen to differ from a featured singer | Described as frightening, daunting, or “kind of terrifying” |
| Tone | Solemn, dignified, and film-centred | “Heavy. Dark.” in Los Angeles Times live coverage |
| Source of the music | An Oscar-winning film, Amadeus, reinforcing the Academy’s film focus | Not addressed in the reported reactions |
The solemnity the producers wanted to signal is the same quality that some listeners heard as ominous. Both can be true at once: the choice can work as intended for the production and still land poorly with part of the audience.
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What the evidence does not establish
- No representative poll or named statistic on audience opinion of the segment was found. The criticism reported above should be treated as examples, not a measure of how most viewers responded.
- The reactions cited are not universal. Some viewers found the segment moving or appropriate, and the sources reviewed do not quantify either group.
- The individual movement title is not confirmed by the sources reviewed, so it is not named here.
- No specific commercial recording is recommended or verified for listening. Readers who want the piece should check a performance listing for the orchestra and chorus named above.
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