Ein deutsches Requiem , nach Worten der heiligen Schrift, Op. 45 (English: A German Requiem, to words of the Holy Scriptures ) is a large-scale work for chorus, orchestra, and soloists, composed by Johannes Brahms between 1865 and 1868. Ein deutsches Requiem is sacred but non-liturgical. It comprises seven movements, which together last 70-80 minutes, making Ein deutsches Requiem Brahms's longest composition.

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History

Brahms's mother died in February 1865, a loss that painfully grieved him and that may well have inspired Ein deutsches Requiem . Brahms's lingering feelings over Robert Schumann's death in July 1856 may also have been a motivation, though his reticence about such matters makes this uncertain. ^[1]

By the end of April 1865, Brahms had completed the first, second, and fourth movements. The second movement used some previously abandoned musical material written in 1854, the year of Schumann's mental collapse and attempted suicide, and of Brahms's move to Düsseldorf to assist Clara Schumann and her seven children.

Brahms completed all but what is now the fifth movement by August 1866. Johannes Herbeck conducted the first three movements in Vienna on December 1, 1867. Though the partial premiere went poorly, all six movements then extant were premiered in the Bremen cathedral six months later on Good Friday, 10 April 1868, with Brahms conducting and Julius Stockhausen as the baritone soloist. The performance was a great success and marked a turning point in his career. ^[2]

Brahms added the fifth movement in May 1868. It was first sung in Zurich on September 12, 1868 by Ida Suter-Weber, with Friedrich Hegar conducting the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra. The final, seven-movement version of Ein deutsches Requiem was premiered in Leipzig on February 18, 1869 with Carl Reinecke conducting the Gewandhaus Orchestra and Chorus, and soloists Emilie Bellingrath-Wagner and Franz Krükl.

Text

Brahms assembled the libretto to Ein deutsches Requiem himself. In contrast to the traditional Roman Catholic requiem mass, which employs a standardized text in Latin, Ein deutsches Requiem derives its text from the German Luther Bible.

Brahms's first known use of the title A German Requiem was in an 1865 letter to Clara Schumann in which he wrote that he intended for the piece to be "a sort of German Requiem". Brahms was quite moved when he found out years later that Robert Schumann had planned a work of the same name. ^[3] German refers primarily to the language rather than the intended audience. Brahms told Karl Martin Reinthaler, director of music at the Bremen cathedral, that he would have gladly called the work A Human Requiem . ^[4]

Although the Requiem Mass in the Roman Catholic liturgy begins with prayers for the dead ("Grant them eternal rest, O Lord"), Ein deutsches Requiem emphasizes comforting the living, beginning with the text "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted." A comparable sacred, humanist worldview persists through the work. ^[4]

In fact, Brahms purposefully omitted Christian dogma. ^[6] In his correspondence with Karl Reinthaler, when Reinthaler expressed concern over this, Brahms refused to add references to "the redeeming death of the Lord", as Reinthaler put it, such as John 3:16 . In the Bremen performance of the piece, Reinthaler took the liberty of inserting the aria "I know that my redeemer liveth" from Handel's Messiah, with a view to satisfy the clergy. ^[7]

Movements

This performance was by the The Holden Consort Orchestra and Choir.

Orchestration

Ein deutsches Requiem is scored for:

• Soprano and baritone soloists
• Mixed chorus
• 2 flutes and piccolo
• 2 oboes
• 2 clarinets
• 2 bassoons and contrabassoon (contrabassoon ad libitum )
• 4 horns
• 2 trumpets
• 3 trombones
• tuba
• timpani
• harp (one part, preferably doubled)
• organ (ad libitum )
• strings

Notable orchestrational devices include the first movement's lack of violins, as well as piccolo, clarinets, one pair of horns, trumpets, tuba, and timpani; and the use of harps at the close of both the first and seventh movements, most striking in the latter because at that point they have not played since the middle of the second movement. Also notable is that the four voice parts of the choir do not divide, e.g. into first and second sopranos, as often as they do in other major choral works of its era.

An alternative version of the work was prepared by Brahms to be performed as a piano duet, four hands on one piano. This version also incorporates the vocal parts, suggesting that it was intended as a self-contained version probably for at-home use, but the vocal parts can also be omitted, making the duet version an acceptable substitute accompaniment for choir and soloists in circumstances where a full orchestra is unavailable. The first complete (excepting the yet-unwritten fifth movement) performance of the Requiem in London, in July 1871 at the home of Sir Henry Thompson and his wife, the pianist Kate Loder (Lady Thompson), utilized this piano-duet accompaniment (and was sung in English).

Unifying motif

Ein deutsches Requiem is unified compositionally by a three-note motif of a leap of a major third, usually followed by a half-step in the same direction. The first exposed choral entry presents the motif in the soprano voice (F-A-B flat). This motif pervades every movement and much of the thematic material in the piece. ^[8]

Notable recordings

Listed alphabetically by conductor

• Claudio Abbado conducting the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Germany). Recorded live in 1992 and released in 1993 by Deutsche Grammophon; with the Swedish Radio Chorus, Eric Ericson Chamber Choir, Cheryl Studer (soprano), Andreas Schmidt (bass-baritone). (A later DVD with Abbado/Berlin features Barbara Bonney, soprano.)
• Gerd Albrecht conducting the Danish National Orchestra (Denmark). Released in 2003 by Chandos Records.
• Herbert Blomstedt conducting the San Francisco Symphony (United States). Released in 1995 by London and winner of the 1995 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance.
• Sergiu Celibidache conducting the Münchner Philharmoniker.Recorded live in 1981 and released in 1999 by EMI.
• Stephen Cleobury conducting the King's College Choir, using Brahms's 2-piano arrangement. Recorded in 2006 and released by EMI.
• Harry Christophers conducting The Sixteen, also using Brahms's 2-piano arrangement. Recorded in 2006 and released on Coro Records.
• Wilhelm Furtwängler conducting the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus live in concert, with soloists Kerstin Lindberg-Torlind, soprano and Bernhard Sönnerstedt, baritone, recorded in 1948, and released on various labels, most recently Music and Arts.
• Wilhelm Furtwängler conducting the Lucerne Festival orchestra and chorus live in concert, with soloists Elizabeth Schwarzkopf and Hans Hotter, also recorded in 1948. The recording is incomplete, however, and suffers from severe wow, surface noise, and overload distortion.
• Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducting the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique. Recorded in 1990 and released by Philips in 1991. Uses period instruments.
• Philippe Herreweghe conducting the Orchestre des Champs-Elysées (France). Recorded live in 1996 and released in 1996 by Harmonia Mundi. Uses period instruments.
• Craig Jessop conducting the Utah Symphony Orchestra (United States) & Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Recorded February 1999 and released in October 1999 by Telarc. Recorded in English.
• Herbert von Karajan conducting the Berliner Philharmoniker and Wiener Singverein (Germany). Recorded in 1964 and released in 2002 by Deutsche Grammophon.
• Herbert von Karajan conducting the Berliner Philharmoniker.Recorded in 1976 and released in 2003 by EMI.
• Rudolf Kempe conducting the Berliner Philharmoniker. Recorded in 1955 Jesus-Christus Kirche, Berlin-Dahlem, Choir of St. Hedwigs-Kathedral, Elizabeth Grümmer, Deitrich Fischer-Dieskau. EMI
• Otto Klemperer conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra (England). Recorded in 1961 and released in 1999 by EMI Classics.
• Rafael Kubelík conducting the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Recorded live in 1978 and released in 2002 by Audite.
• Bernard Haitink conducting the Vienna Philharmonic. Recorded in 1980 and released by Philips Records.
• James Levine conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Chorus. Recorded in 1983 by RCA.
• Kurt Masur conducting the New York Philharmonic (United States). Recorded live in 1995 and released in 1995 by Teldec.
• Roger Norrington conducting the London Classical Players and Schütz Choir of London. Recorded and released in 1999 by Virgin.
• Andre Previn conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (England). Recorded in 1986 and released in 2002 by Apex.
• Simon Rattle conducting the Berlin Philharmonic. Recorded in concert in 2006 and released in 2007 by EMI Classics. In 2008, winner of the 50th Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance.
• Wolfgang Sawallisch conducting the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (Germany). Released in 1995 by Orfeo.
• Carl Schuricht conducting the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra (Germany). Recorded in 1959 and released in 2004 by Hänssler Classic.
• Robert Shaw conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus (United States). Recorded in 1990 and released in 1992 by Telarc.
• Sir Georg Solti conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Chorus. Recorded in 1978 by London/Decca.
• Bruno Walter conducting the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and Westminster Choir. Recorded live in Carnegie Hall in 1954.

References

1. Steinberg, 69.
2. Steinberg, 68-69
3. Steinberg, 69
4. Steinberg, 70
5. Steinberg, 70
6. See analysis of the work under External links.
7. State of the Arts
8. Steinberg, 71-74