Ein deutsches Requiem

Begun in 1865, A German Requiem is Brahms’ largest work in its overall conception, the premiere of the definitive seven-movement version on 18 February 1869, establishing his wider reputation. Brahms had selected his own sequence from the Lutheran Bible, avoiding the Latin text’s often apocalyptic imagery to focus on compassion for those living as they contemplate “the life to come”. This is evident in “Selig sind, die da Leid tragen” (“Blessed are they who mourn”), with its sombre yet confiding restraint, then in “Denn alles Fleisch, es ist wie Gras” (“For all flesh is as grass”), whose fateful outer sections frame a winsome central episode and are concluded by a fervent apotheosis. “Herr, lehre doch mich, dass ein Ende mit mir haben muss” (“Lord, teach me to know mine end”) moves from a baritone aria of some anxiety to an energetic choral fugue, then “Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen” (“How lovely are thy dwelling places”) affords an interlude of appealing deftness. “Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit” (“And now you have sorrow”) is a soprano aria affecting in its poignancy, recalling the death of the composer’s mother as the likely catalyst for this piece. “Denn wir haben hie keine bleibende Statt” (“For here we have no continuing city”) begins with a questing baritone aria before the work’s most dramatic choral writing culminates in a triumphal fugue. “Selig sind die Toten, die in dem Herrn sterben” (“Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord”) returns to the spirit and, gradually, the music from the opening as it moves toward a conclusion of prayerful acceptance.