Brahms completed his Ein deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem) in 1868, originally as a tribute to his mother, who had died three years previously. The piece, however, was not intended to be a requiem in the traditional sense. Rather than setting the words of the Latin mass for the dead as Mozart, Berlioz and many more before them had done, Brahms chose passages from Luther’s translation of the Bible. It was a way of preserving the requiem’s sacred quality while keeping it from being performed as part of a formal church service. For Brahms, the music sought to console and heal anyone in a state of grief, no matter their faith. This recording features the Berlin Philharmonic under Simon Rattle alongside two outstanding vocal soloists, baritone Thomas Quasthoff and soprano Dorothea Röschmann, whose performance of the great solo aria is a true highlight of this recording.