Musical Monday #3 -Ein Deutsches Requiem Mvt. 6

“When I feel the urge to compose, I begin by appealing directly to my Maker and I ask Him the three most important questions pertaining to our life here in the world—whence, wherefore and whither.” — Johannes Brahms

Johannes Brahms probably wrote this magnificent work as a way to mourn the loss of his mother, though a close friend believed that the musical source of inspiration for the Requiem was the old Lutheran chorale: Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten, and the work shares the same subject as J.S. Bach’s Cantata BWV 84. But whatever the fount had been, Brahms’ Requiem demonstrates that he understood and loved choral sonorities. The piece has earned a position as one of the greatest Requiem settings in choral repertoire, and such a distinction is no surprise given his accomplishments as a choral conductor.

Brahms assiduously explored the music of J.S. Bach, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven and became a master at counterpoint, but his musical beginnings were meager. He first learned under the tutelage of his father, a bass player in Hamburg, and as a youth he earned his living by playing piano in some of Hamburg’s sleazy bordellos. He did study keyboard with a number of prominent pianists and accompanied or performed his music along with the works of other artists. He was very self-critical of his own music, going as far as destroying many of his earlier compositions.

Brahms eventually gained respectable status as a composer through endorsements by the likes of Schumann, Joachim (a virtuoso violinist), and Liszt. Later in Brahms’ life after establishing himself as accomplished composer, he paid the generosity forward by offering the same boost to the careers of Dvorák and Grieg.

Brahms resisted the pull of Romanticism and embraced Classicism when it came to form and structure. Prominent conductor Hans von Bulow underscores this in suggesting, “the 10th Symphony of Beethoven was Brahms’ 1st symphony.” Brahms possessed a comprehensive knowledge of current works and was a big fan of Bizet’s Carmen, Verdi’s Requiem, works of Berlioz, and waltzes of Johann Strauss.

Wagner and Brahms were often made out to be oppositional characters during their time, with Wagner’s music viewed as more progressive and indicative of music’s future. Brahms’ lack of perceived progressiveness was publicly criticized by musicians such as Hugo Wolf, Anton Rubinstein, Peter Tchaikovsky, Paul Dukas, and by critics Eduard Hanslick and George Bernard Shaw. Music history has been kind to Brahms and his prodigious output, however.

The translation of Ein Deutsches Requiem’s German text, for Movement 6 offers wondering earthly travelers a final heavenly abode:

Here we have no continuing home, but we seek one. Behold, I show you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. . . .Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? For thou has created all things.

This movement takes many turns as the text indicates, and we should note that the 1 Corinthians verse is used by Handel in the famous bass aria found in Messiah.

Michael Dean, the baritone soloist and a regular for us, is a Professor at UCLA. The Bach Choir features prominently in tandem with the soloist and by itself, all accompanied by the Bach Festival Orchestra. This is an unedited performance from this past February’s Bach Festival.

-John V. Sinclair

“I believe Johannes to be the true Apostle, who will also write Revelations.” —Robert Schumann