Musical Moments #12
MUSICAL MOMENTS #12
“Music’s the medicine of the mind.”
John Logan (1788)
Ein Deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem) Movement #2 by Johannes Brahms
The idea of writing a requiem started when Brahms was only 23 years old and after the death of his good friend and advocate Robert Schumann. Fast forward almost a decade later, Brahms’ brother telegrammed him to hurry home to see his mother before she died, but he sadly did not make it in time. The Requiem seems to be a composite of compounded grief from such two significant losses, though Clara Schumann, widow of Robert and close friend of Brahms wrote, “We all think he wrote in her memory.” Regardless of the specific impetus, the reverential and heart-felt quality of the piece is undeniable.
Brahms was a very self-critical composer and was constantly revising his work. When once asked how he spent his day, he famously responded, “In the morning I added a note. In the afternoon I took it out.” From the Requiem’s first partial performance in 1866 until its final form in 1869, the work was altered, revised, and enlarged numerous times. This was clearly a therapeutic effort, and after its completion, Brahms wrote, “Now I am consoled. I have surmounted obstacles that I thought I could never overcome and I feel like an eagle, soaring ever higher and higher.”
Brahms’s Requiem does not use the traditional form’s text. He compiled his own version drawing primarily from the Martin Luther translation of the Bible, not the traditional Latin. The message does not concern itself with the soul of the departed, but rather more with comforting the mourners left behind.
In discussing the name German Requiem Brahms wrote, “As regards to the title, I will confess I should gladly have left out German and substituted Human.”
The movement we are hearing today could be summarized by a few key (translated) textual phrases:
For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower therefore falleth away. . . .Be patient therefore, unto the coming of the Lord. . . .But the word of the Lord endureth forever . . . .And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs . . . .They shall have joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Just as Beethoven’s 9th is viewed as a work of celebration, this work is recognized as music meant for reflection and comfort. After 9/11, the New York Philharmonic quickly mounted a performance of the piece to help the city mourn.
As I contemplate the current state of the world, this timely piece never fails to soothe my soul, and every time I perform it, I feel grateful for having had the privilege of being near such greatness. Don’t be surprised if you hear another part of this glorious work in the weeks to come.
-John V. Sinclair
“I believe Johannes to be the true Apostle, who will also write Revelations.”
Robert Schumann
