A requiem is commonly understood to be the liturgy of the requiem mass of the Catholic Church for the commemoration of the dead. Brahms, who grew up in the Lutheran city of Hamburg, did not base his selection of texts on the traditional canon of the requiem as a mass for the dead, but rather chose from texts of the Old and New Testaments in the Luther version of the Bible primarily those that focus on the consolation of the bereaved. Brahms did not conceive of his German Requiem as funeral music, but rather as music for "those who mourn," i.e., as music for the living, carried by seriousness, dignity, and confidence. For this reason, the structure of the work - especially the instrumentation - can be described as an oratorio, even if the dramatic component is missing.
Ein Deutsches Requiem is not mournful music. The central idea of the work is not the eternal repose of the deceased, but above all the consolation of those who bear the suffering. Thus, Brahms' Requiem begins with the text "Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted" (Matthew 5:4), while the traditional Latin Requiem Mass begins with "Requiem eternam dona eis, Domine" ("Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord").
Brahms deliberately omitted Christian dogma. When someone expressed concern about this, Brahms refused to add any text that would refer to "the Lord's redemptive death.
There is some speculation about the motivation for this work, but it seems unnecessary to me. The finished work was dedicated to Robert Schumann, Brahms' mother, and "all of humanity. Brahms had a deep and close relationship with Clara and Robert Schumann, and it was a shock to Brahms when Robert Schumann attempted suicide by jumping into the icy Rhine River in the winter of 1854. Brahms was devastated by the illness and death of his friend and mentor. The death of Brahms' mother in 1865 was another significant event.
Ein Deutsches Requiem was composed between 1865 and 1868. In its final version, it consists of seven movements. The inclusion of Movement V creates a symmetrical structure around Movement IV, which describes the "beautiful dwellings of the Lord." Movements I and VII begin with "Blessed are...", movement I being taken from the Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount and movement VII from the Book of Revelation. Musically, too, these two - mostly restrained - movements are related. Movements II and VI are dramatically conceived, movement II emphasizing transience ("For all flesh is as grass"), movement VI the resurrection ("Behold, I tell you a mystery"). Movements III and V begin with a solo voice. In movement III, the baritone pleads ("Lord, teach me"), and the chorus repeats the text several times in a generalized manner. In movement V, however, the soprano and chorus sing different texts, "You have sadness" versus "I will comfort you." Throughout the work, unlike in baroque oratorios, the soloists do not sing arias, but are part of the overall architecture. Nearly all of the movements, with the exception of IV and VII, are based on a sequence of several biblical words, each of which leads meaningfully from sorrow and mourning to consolation. The last word, like the first, is "blessed."
Brahms composed the libretto himself. The "German" in the title refers primarily to the language rather than the intended audience. Brahms told Carl Martin Reinthaler, director of music at the Bremen Cathedral, that he would have liked to call the work "Ein menschliches Requiem" (A Human Requiem).
In this work, Brahms changed the purpose of the requiem. Instead of a mass for the dead, he shows the way for humanity. Instead of fearing sin, God's wrath, and the Last Judgment, he conveys the message of love and immortality. Thus his work begins and ends with words of consolation.
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Listen to: The Norwegian Soloists' Choir (Det Norske Solistkor), Ensemble Allegria, The Norwegian Wind Ensemble (Det Norske Blåseensemble), Markus Eiche (baryton), Camilla Tilling (soprano) and conductor Grete Pedersen.
Choral Masterworks