Musical Moments #36
“Some kinds of music dissipate in seconds. Other kinds remain a lifetime, stored in the limbs, or maybe the brain, or even the heart.”
Derrick de Kerckhove
Ein Deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem) Movement #5
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Her name was Christiane Brahms, and the influence spiritually and ethically she had on her son stayed with Brahms his whole life. Upon hearing from his younger brother, “If you want to see our mother again, come immediately,” Johannes hurried to be with her but arrived too late. She had already passed, and he grieved her death for many years.
Because of this loss, the Requiem was especially personal for Brahms. After finishing the piece, he let it rest a whole year before mounting a debut, and finally, on December 1, 1867, a rather unsuccessful performance of a portion of the work took place. Four months later, he presented six movements to a very different and enthusiastic response, but Brahms thought the work was still missing something, one last touching tribute to his mother, so in the next few weeks he added an ethereal aria for soprano and finally declared the work finished. It is this glorious movement you are hearing today that provided him with closure.
The aria’s text is from three different books of the Bible and all speak of feeling comforted and finding relief in letting go of the grief.
You now are sorrowful; grieve not: I will again behold you, and then your heart
shall be joyful, and your joy shall no one take from you.
John 16: 22
Look upon me: I suffered for a little time; toil and labor were mine;
And I have found, at last, comfort.
Ecclesiastics. 51: 35
I will give you comfort, as one whom his own mother comforts.
Isaiah 66: 13
This performance features soprano Sherezade Panthaki in a duet with the Bach Festival Orchestra. The Bach Choir provides a beautiful choral cloud for the soprano soloist to float on by repeating the text, “I will comfort, as one whom his own mother comforts.”
During these troubling times, this movement reminds me that music, as the text states, can provide “a joy no one (can) take from you.” Great music has the capacity to suspend time and recalibrate one’s inner compass. I hope this lovely offering brings you such respite.
-John V. Sinclair
“There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love.”
Washington Irving