A german requiem

For the novel by Phillip B. Kerr, see Berlin noir III. Requiem German

Johannes Brahms (1897)

A German Requiem (original German title: Ein deutsches Requiem) is a composition for soprano, baritone, chorus and orchestra by Johannes Brahms. Listed as his opus 45, it is a meditation on life and death based on biblical texts. It was partially premiered in Bremen Cathedral on April 10, 1868, Good Friday, and fully in 1869 at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig. Subsequently, it was performed throughout Europe and Brahms began to be regarded as a major composer.

Approach and structure

Brahms made the first sketches of the work in 1861 and began the fundamental work from 1866, after the death of his mother and his protector Robert Schumann.

It is a hybrid between the cantata and the oratorio, where the sensitivity is very close to mercy, compassion and optimism, which distances it from the requiem in the liturgical sense, as well as from the Mass deceased or a sacred intention. In this sense, Brahms distances himself from the Catholic tradition, and places himself in the orbit of the teachings of Lutheranism, by selecting biblical texts that avoid references to eternal life, the final judgment or a punishing God.

In its seven parts it incorporates 15 biblical texts titled as follows:

1. Chor: “Selig sind, die da Leid tragen”
2. Chor: „Denn alles Fleisch, est wie Gras“
3. Bariton (Solo) und Chor: „Herr, lehre doch mich“
4. Chor: „Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen“
5. Sopran (Solo) und Chor: „Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit“
6. Bariton (Solo) und Chor: “Denn wir haben hie keine bleibende Statt“
7. Chor: “Selig sind die Toten”

On December 1, 1867, a concert in memory of Schubert is scheduled in Vienna, an occasion that is used for the presentation of the first three movements of A German Requiem. It is told as an anecdote that the person in charge of the percussion, supposedly sold to Wagner, an enemy of Brahms, blew up the work with extemporaneous timpani. For this or another reason, the preview of the premiere was not successful. Although really the rivalries between the Brahms school and the Wagner school occurred between the followers of each school, not between Wagner himself and Brahms.

The work had its complete and definitive premiere on April 10, 1868, Good Friday, in the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Bremen. This time it was a huge success. Another Good Friday of 1871 was revived, also in Bremen Cathedral, as a funeral tribute to those who fell in the Franco-Prussian War within a markedly nationalist context.

After the first three parts, somber and dramatic in tone, No. 4 creates a certain contrast of serenity, which is also found in No. 5, with its magnificent soprano solos. Very complex in its organization, No. 6, where baritone and chorus alternate, ends with a fugue. No. 7 ends the German Requiem in a climate of beatitude.

As is clear from the title, the German Requiem was not written for exclusively liturgical purposes, although the name of Christ is invoked. Brahms chooses the lyrics with painstaking care from the Lutheran Bible, including the apocryphal writings.

Curiosities

There is a story by Jorge Luis Borges —who has admitted to being a great admirer of the work of Johannes Brahms—, published in his book of short stories El Aleph, which bears the name of "Deutsches Requiem". Also, the second movement of it serves as music for the Introduction of the BBC documentary series on Nazism entitled: Nazis: A Notice of History.

Selected discography