Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem

Michaelmas term 2010
The Concert in St George's Church, Kemptown, planned for Thursday 2 December, was postponed because of the difficult weather conditions.
It is hoped to find a new date early in 2011 for this performance.

The way Brahms arranged the seven movements of his German Requiem shows his thinking was free from both musical and Christian dogma. It may have been written in memory of his mother, who had died earlier in the year he first began work on the Requiem; it is equally possible that he had in mind the descent into madness and tragic death of his friend and mentor Robert Schumann. Brahms gave no indication himself that the Requiem was any one person’s memorial, and both the music and the choice of biblical texts convey a universal message. Calling the work a “German” Requiem reflects his use of the Lutheran Bible rather than the customary Latin one, and the texts come from both the Old and New Testaments, as well as from the Apocrypha. The emotional emphasis is on comfort and transcendence and compared with the usual Catholic liturgical requiem leaves out the horrors of the Last Judgement and any final plea for mercy.

Brahms conducted the first performance of six movements of the work on Good Friday 1868, in Bremen Cathedral before an audience of 2,500. The final version with seven movements, was first heard in Leipzig in February 1869.

Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897)

Johannes Brahms
(1833 – 1897)

1.	*Selig sind, die da Leid tragen* Blessed are they that mourn
2.	*Denn alles Fleisch, es ist wie Gras* For all flesh is as grass
3.	*Herr, lehre doch mich* Lord, let me to know mine end
4.	*Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen* How lovely are thy dwellings
5.	*Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit* Ye now have sorrow
6.	*Denn wir haben hie keine bleibende Statt* For here have we no lasting home
7.	*Selig sind die Toten* Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord

"Selig sind, die da Leid tragen"
Blessed are they that mourn
The text comes from one of the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount. The music begins in quietly sombre mood, with mourning eventually transformed into comfort.

"Denn alles Fleisch, es ist wie Gras"
For all flesh is as grass
Underpinned by the solemn rhythms of a funeral march, the chorus proclaims man’s unavoidable fate – “all flesh is as grass”. A central episode provides some brief respite before the funeral-march returns. Then the sentence “the Lord’s word standeth for ever” moves from darkness into light.

"Herr, lehre doch mich"
Lord, let me to know mine end
The baritone soloist asks “In what shall I hope?” and is answered “My hope is in thee”, leading to an imposing fugue over a deep pedal note, creating both tension and a symbolic firm foundation for the final resolution.

"Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen"
How lovely are thy dwellings
A beautiful pastorale creates a mood of serene contemplation and rest.

"Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit"
Ye now have sorrow
A soprano solo accompanied by woodwind, horns, muted strings and chorus, brings a message of consolation.

"Denn wir haben hie keine bleibende Statt"
For here have we no lasting home
The most dramatic movement of the German Requiem begins in reflective mood, but soon the baritone soloist introduces the verses “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed … at the sound of the last trumpet”. Here the music grows into a blaze of sound and energy until “Death, where is thy sting?” leading to a tremendous fugue.

"Selig sind die Toten"
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord
A radiant melody from the sopranos begins the last movement, followed by the basses. The final part reworks music from opening movement, reaching peace with “Selig sind” - blessed, the same word with which the Requiem began.