Johannes Brahms : A German Requiem ... Sunday, December 6, 1992, Jesse Auditorium
Abstract
"It was with Ein Deutsches Requiem that Johannes Brahms first won general acceptance in Europe as a composer to be reckoned with. He had begun his career as a pianist and composer of piano works and had made a small reputation as a choral conductor, but it was with the Requiem, his first and most famous large-scale choral/orchestral work that Brahms fulfilled the prophetic words of his mentor, Robert Schumann. In 1853, when Brahms was only twenty years old, Schumann had written: "When he shall lower his magic wand in the place where the powers massed in the chorus and orchestra lend him their strength there shall be vouchsafed as yet more wondrous prospects into the secrets of the spirit world." The Requiem was composed between 1861 and 1868. On December 1, 1867, the first three movements were performed in Vienna, but the work did not receive its official premier until April 10, 1868 when it was performed at Bremen Cathedral. Following this performance, Brahms added what is now the fifth movement, and the first complete performance of all seven movements of the work took place on February 18, 1869 in the Leipzig Gewandhaus."--About the Program
Table of Contents
Blessed are they that mourn -- Behold, all flesh is as the grass -- Lord, teach me to know -- Intermission -- How lovely is Thy dwelling place -- Ye now are sorrowful -- Here on earth have we no continuing place -- Blessed are the dead