Johannes Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem

The Großes Orchester des Christian Ernst Gymnasium Erlangen, conducted by Stefano Vasselli, performs the sacred work Ein deutsches Requiem (known in Italy as A German Requiem) by Johannes Brahms at the Church of Saint Paul's within the Walls.

The work, which was written in 1868, is a polyphonic choral symphonic work in seven movements, thanks to which Brahms, then a little-known young composer, became known: the piece, in fact, has a musical construction of great expressive depth and wide-ranging structural. Furthermore, it is a work conceived essentially for concert performances; this aspect is also reflected in the text, which is quite free in form: the Requiem in fact does not follow the liturgical texts of the funeral, but is based on texts taken by Brahms himself from the German Bible in the translation by Martin Luther, concerning the different aspects of death and the consolation that Man draws from his Christian faith.

The tone of peace is clearly perceptible from the beginning of the composition and remains the same even in the last piece, which takes up the first number and brings the whole work to completion, in an almost cyclical manner.

With Rhonda Abou Hana (soprano), Andrea D'Amelio (baritone) and The New Chamber Singers.