A German Requiem, J. Brahms
Johannes Brahms' intimate and personal work, A German Requiem, Op. 45, is performed at the Teatro Filarmonico di Verona this season. Known in German as Ein deutsches Requiem, this large-scale work for soloists, chorus and orchestra comprises seven movements, making it the German composer’s longest and one of his most involved pieces. Audiences can expect moving music that Brahms himself described as intended to comfort the living rather than address those who had passed away.
Work on A German Requiem began in the 1860s, although some of its earliest musical ideas date back to 1854, when Brahms sketched three movements of a sonata for two pianos, which would later become part of the Requiem. This was around the time that Robert Schumann, Brahms' friend and mentor, was undergoing a mental health crisis. Indeed, Schumann attempted suicide in February 1854 and was subsequently admitted to a psychiatric institution, where he remained until his death in July 1856. These events had a profound effect on Brahms, who was 23 years old when Schumann died, and are widely considered to have influenced the development of the Requiem.
Brahms continued developing the composition, eventually completing six movements by August 1866. However, only the first three movements were performed at its first public performance on 1 December 1867 in Vienna, conducted by Johannes Herbeck. Brahms returned to the piece the following year, when he presented the fuller, six-movement version at Bremen Cathedral on Good Friday, 10 April 1868. This expanded version brought greater musical depth and variety to the work. Conducted by Brahms himself, with Julius Stockhausen as the baritone soloist, this performance marked an important stage in the work's development.
Later, Brahms took his six-movement version of A German Requiem and expanded it further. In May 1868, he completed an additional movement, Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit (You Now Have Sorrow), featuring a soprano solo. Positioned fifth in the final sequence, this movement received its own separate premiere on 17 September 1868 in Zurich. The death of Brahms' mother, Christiane, in 1865 has led some to believe this event influenced the composition of the new fifth movement, but Brahms distanced himself from the notion without explicitly rejecting it. Either way, the final seven-movement work was subsequently premiered on 18 February 1869, conducted by Carl Reinecke, at the Gewandhaus concert hall in Leipzig.
Drawing on Lutheran biblical texts rather than traditional Latin ones, Brahms' A German Requiem combines solemn reflection with moments of warmth, consolation and hope. Its rich orchestration, expressive choral writing and contrasting movements explore grief and mortality while offering reassurance to the living. With such masterful writing for soloists, choir and orchestra, this rendition of A German Requiem at Verona's Teatro Filarmonico is sure to evoke strong emotions among all who attend.