Brahms’ German Requiem

Johannes Brahms, A German Requiem (1868) with soprano/baritone soloists, chorus and orchestra

PPM is thrilled to present one of the most beloved and performed choral masterworks on the 150th anniversary of its premiere in Bremen, Germany: the 6-movement premiere occurred on Good Friday, April 1868 at Bremen Cathedral.  One month later Brahms added a fifth movement for soprano solo/chorus in memory of his mother who had died in 1865.  The full 7-movement premiere (as we know it) took place in Leipzig Jan. 1869.

Brahms himself called the work A German Requiem to distinguish it from the Roman Catholic Mass for the Dead sung in Latin during a service.    Brahms’ work is not a liturgical Requiem which focuses on the departed.   Rather it was composed to give comfort to the bereaved, those left behind.   It has been called a “people’s requiem” or “human requiem”    The texts are interdenominational and were selected by Brahms himself from the Lutheran translation of the Bible.     The overarching message of each of the seven movements is that out of sorrow comes joy.  Themes of the texts range from fear, anxiety and death transformed into everlasting joy – and there is peace and comfort for the living.   A performance of the Brahms Requiem by Boston-area singers and players occurred within days of the Boston Marathon bombings in April 2013.

Concerts will be held

Saturday, April 7th at 8 PM
Rye Congregational Church

Friday, April 13th at 8 PM
Christ Church
Exeter, NH

Sunday, April 15th at 3 PM
Pre-concert talk