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For the short story by Jorge Luis Borges, see Deutsches Requiem (short story). " Deutsches Requiem " is the title of a short story by noted Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges.

Ein deutsches Requiem, nach Worten der heiligen Schrift, Op. 45 (English: A German Requiem, to words of the Holy Scriptures) is a large-scale work for chorus, orchestra, and soloists, composed by Johannes Brahms between 1865 and 1868. Opus, from the Latin word opus meaning "work" is usually used in the sense of "a Work of art " English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States For the musical composition see Chorale. A choir, chorale, or chorus is a Musical ensemble of Singers An orchestra is an instrumental ensemble, usually fairly large with string brass woodwind sections and possibly a percussion section as well Johannes Brahms ( pronounced ˈbʁaːms (May 7 1833 &ndash April 3 1897 was a German Composer Ein deutsches Requiem is sacred but non-liturgical. It comprises seven movements, which together last 70-80 minutes, making Ein deutsches Requiem Brahms's longest composition. A movement is a self-contained part of a Musical composition or Musical form.

Contents

History

Brahms's mother died in February 1865, a loss that painfully grieved him and that may well have inspired Ein deutsches Requiem. Brahms's lingering feelings over Robert Schumann's death in July 1856 may also have been a motivation, though his reticence about such matters makes this uncertain. Robert Schumann, sometimes given as Robert Alexander Schumann (June 8 1810 &ndash July 29 1856 was a German Composer, Aesthete and influential Music critic [1]

By the end of April 1865, Brahms had completed the first, second, and fourth movements. The second movement used some previously abandoned musical material written in 1854, the year of Schumann's mental collapse and attempted suicide, and of Brahms's move to Düsseldorf to assist Clara Schumann and her seven children. Düsseldorf (ˈdʏsəldɔɐf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Clara Josephine Wieck Schumann (September 13 1819 &ndash May 20 1896 was a German musician one of the most distinguished Pianists of the Romantic era, as

Brahms completed all but what is now the fifth movement by August 1866. Johannes Herbeck conducted the first three movements in Vienna on December 1, 1867. Vienna ( in Wien; see also other names) is the Capital of Austria, and is also one of the nine States of Austria. Events 800 - Charlemagne judges the accusations against Pope Leo III in the Vatican Year 1867 ( MDCCCLXVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Though the partial premiere went poorly, all six movements then extant were premiered in the Bremen cathedral six months later on Good Friday, 10 April 1868, with Brahms conducting and Julius Stockhausen as the baritone soloist. Bremen (ˈbʁeːmən is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany (official name Stadtgemeinde Bremen / City Municipality of Bremen Good Friday, also called Holy Friday or Great Friday, is the Friday preceding Easter Sunday ("Pascha" Events 879 - Louis III becomes King of the Western Franks. 1407 - the lama Year 1868 ( MDCCCLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap Julius Christian Stockhausen ( 22 July 1826, Paris - 22 September 1906, Frankfurt am Main) was a German The performance was a great success and marked a turning point in his career. [2]

Brahms added the fifth movement in May 1868. It was first sung in Zurich on September 12, 1868 by Ida Suter-Weber, with Friedrich Hegar conducting the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra. Zürich (, Zürich German: Züri, Zurich, Zurigo; in English generally Zurich) is the largest city in Switzerland and capital of the Events 1213 - Albigensian Crusade: Simon de Montfort 5th Earl of Leicester, defeats Peter II of Aragon at the Year 1868 ( MDCCCLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap Friedrich Hegar ( 11 October 1841 &ndash 2 June 1927) was as Swiss Composer, conductor, Violinist Tonhalle Orchester Zürich is a Symphony orchestra founded in 1868 in Zürich Switzerland, where it established its residence in the The final, seven-movement version of Ein deutsches Requiem was premiered in Leipzig on February 18, 1869 with Carl Reinecke conducting the Gewandhaus Orchestra and Chorus, and soloists Emilie Bellingrath-Wagner and Franz Krükl. This sort of fix restores section edit linkpoints to where they belong Events 3102 BC - Epoch (origin of the Kali Yuga. 1229 - The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II Holy Year 1869 ( MDCCCLXIX) is a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Carl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke ( June 23, 1824 &ndash The Gewandhausorchester Leipzig ( Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra) is a famous German Orchestra based in Leipzig, Germany.

Text

Brahms assembled the libretto to Ein deutsches Requiem himself. In contrast to the traditional Roman Catholic requiem mass, which employs a standardized text in Latin, Ein deutsches Requiem derives its text from Martin Luther's German Bible translation. The Requiem (from Latin requiem, accusative case of requies, rest or Requiem Mass (informally a funeral Mass also known formally (in Latin as the For other uses see Mass (disambiguation The Mass, a form of sacred musical composition, is a choral composition that Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Martin Luther (November 10 1483 February 18 1546 was a German Monk, theologian, university professor Father of Protestantism, and church reformer The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin

Brahms's first known use of the title A German Requiem was in an 1865 letter to Clara Schumann in which he wrote that he intended for the piece to be "a sort of German Requiem". Brahms was quite moved when he found out years later that Robert Schumann had planned a work of the same name. [3] German refers primarily to the language rather than the intended audience. Brahms told Karl Martin Reinthaler, director of music at the Bremen cathedral, that he would have gladly called the work A Human Requiem. Carl Martin Reinthaler ( October 13, 1822 - February 13, 1896) was a German Organist, conductor and Composer [4]

Although the Requiem Mass in the Roman Catholic liturgy begins with prayers for the dead ("Grant them eternal rest, O Lord"), Ein deutsches Requiem emphasizes comforting the living, beginning with the text "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. " A comparable sacred, humanist worldview persists through the work. [5]

In fact, Brahms purposefully omitted Christian dogma. [6] In his correspondence with Karl Reinthaler, when Reinthaler expressed concern over this, Brahms refused to add references to "the redeeming death of the Lord", as Reinthaler put it, such as John 3:16. In the Bremen performance of the piece, Reinthaler took the liberty of inserting the aria "I know that my redeemer liveth" from Handel's Messiah, with a view to satisfy the clergy. Messiah ( HWV 56 is an Oratorio by George Frideric Handel based on a Libretto by Charles Jennens. [7]

Movements

Orchestration

Ein deutsches Requiem is scored for:

Notable orchestrational devices include the first movement's lack of violins, as well as piccolo, clarinets, one pair of horns, trumpets, tuba, and timpani; and the use of harps at the close of both the first and seventh movements, most striking in the latter because at that point they have not played since the middle of the second movement. This article is related to a series of articles under the main article Voice type. This article is related to a series of articles under the main article Voice type. The flute is a Musical instrument of the Woodwind family Unlike other woodwind instruments a flute is a Reedless wind instrument that produces its The piccolo is a small Flute. Like the flute the piccolo is normally pitched in the key of C one octave above the concert flute (making it effectively a sopranino "Hautbois" redirects here for the strawberry variety see Hautbois strawberry. The clarinet is a Musical instrument in the Woodwind family The name derives from adding the suffix -et meaning little to the Italian word The bassoon is a Woodwind instrument in the Double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and Tenor registers and occasionally The contrabassoon is a larger version of the Bassoon sounding an octave lower The trombone is a Musical instrument in the brass family Like all brass instruments it is a lip-reed Aerophone: sound is produced when the player’s Mediatubaogg -->The tuba is the largest and lowest pitched Brass instrument. Timpani (also known colloquially as kettledrums or kettle drums) are Musical instruments in the percussion family The harp is a Stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicular to the soundboard. The organ (from Greek όργανον – organon "organ instrument tool" is a Keyboard instrument of one or more divisions each A string instrument (or stringed instrument) is a Musical instrument that produces Sound by means of Vibrating strings In the Hornbostel-Sachs Orchestration is the study or practice of writing Music for Orchestra (or more loosely for any Musical ensemble) or of adapting for orchestra music composed

Also notable is that the four voice parts of the choir do not divide, e. g. into first and second sopranos, as often as they do in other major choral works of its era.

An alternative version of the work was prepared by Brahms to be performed as a piano duet, four hands on one piano. This version also incorporates the vocal parts, suggesting that it was intended as a self-contained version probably for at-home use, but the vocal parts can also be omitted, making the duet version an acceptable substitute accompaniment for choir and soloists in circumstances where a full orchestra is unavailable. The first complete (excepting the yet-unwritten fifth movement) performance of the Requiem in London, in July 1871 at the home of Sir Henry Thompson and his wife, the pianist Kate Loder (Lady Thompson), utilized this piano-duet accompaniment (and was, incidentally, sung in English). Henry Thompson redirects here For the American songwriter see H

Unifying motif

Ein deutsches Requiem is unified compositionally by a three-note motif of a leap of a major third, followed by a (usually) half-step in the same direction. In Music, a motif or motive is a perceivable or salient recurring fragment or succession of notes that may be used to construct the entirety or parts In Music theory, the term interval describes the relationship between the pitches of two Notes Intervals may be described as vertical In Music theory, the term interval describes the relationship between the pitches of two Notes Intervals may be described as vertical The first exposed choral entry presents the motif in the soprano voice (F-A-B flat). This motif pervades every movement and much of the thematic material in the piece. In Music, a theme is the initial or primary Melody. The Encyclopédie Fasquelle (Michel 1958–61 defines a theme as follows "Any [8]

Notable recordings

Listed alphabetically by conductor

Critical appraisal

Not all critics have responded favourably to the work. In particular George Bernard Shaw wrote that "it could only have come from the establishment of a first-class undertaker. George Bernard Shaw ( (26 July 1856 &ndash 2 November 1950 was an Irish Playwright. "

References

  1. ^ Steinberg, 69.
  2. ^ Steinberg, 68-69
  3. ^ Steinberg, 69
  4. ^ Steinberg, 70
  5. ^ Steinberg, 70
  6. ^ See analysis of the work under External links.
  7. ^ State of the Arts. , page 7
  8. ^ Steinberg, 71-74

External links

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