Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45 (piano, four hands)

Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45 Music by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) Texts from the Holy Bible (transl. Martin Luther) 00:00 — 1. Selig sind, die da Leid tragen 08:33 — 2. Denn alles Fleisch es ist wie Gras 21:23 — 3. Herr, lehre doch mich 30:38 — 4. Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen 35:51 — 5. Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit 41:29 — 6. Denn wir haben hie keine bleibende Statt 53:07 — 7. Selig sind die Toten Christine Papania, soprano Jesse Weinberg, baritone Brendan Fox & Jessi Kolberg, pianists Milwaukee Chamber Choir J. Mark Baker, conductor All Saints’ Cathedral, Milwaukee (USA) 10 November 2019 PROGRAM NOTES by J. Mark Baker Years before tackling his First Symphony, Johannes Brahms composed Ein deutsches Requiem as a memorial both to his mother and to his beloved mentor, Robert Schumann. It is his greatest choral work, and the most extensive score in the whole of his output. He was occupied with its composition for over a decade, and various movements were premiered along the way. By the time the seven-movement work had its first performance – 18 February 1869; Leipzig, Germany – Brahms had reached the ripe old age of 35. The U.K. premiere of the Requiem took place two years later, in the version for four-hand piano accompaniment – arranged by the composer himself – performed here by Milwaukee Chamber Choir. Singers and audience gathered in London at the Wimpole Street home of composer-pianist Kate Loder on 10 July 1871. Brahms’s Op. 45 is cast in seven movements, which allows for a felicitous symmetry: The first and last movements correspond to each other, as do the second and sixth, and the third and fifth. At the center is the sublime fourth movement, “which is, as it were, the gentle trio of the work.” (Karl Geiringer)