There seems little doubt that the death of his mother in January 1865 was the immediate reason for the composition of A German Requiem, a large scale work that developed gradually over the years immediately following, but may well have been under consideration for some years. The second movement, at least, makes use of material from the slow Scherzo of the composer's rejected symphony of 1854 and 1855, the period of Schumann's final illness. Three of six completed movements were performed in Vienna in 1867 by the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde under the direction of Johann Herbeck, but was badly received. Brahms, as a North German Protestant, had chosen to make use of texts taken from the Lutheran Bible, drawing on the Old and New Testaments and on the Apocrypha, and such a work might well have seemed strange to Catholic Vienna, even had it been properly rehearsed for the occasion. Albert Dietrich, a young composer and conductor and a pupil of Schumann, whom Brahms had first met in Düsseldorf in 1853, sent a copy of the work to the organist and director of music of Bremen Cathedral, Karl Martin Reinthaler, who arranged the first performance of all six movements on Good Friday 1868, under the direction of the composer. On this occasion the Requiem was very successful and with the addition of a seventh movement, placed fifth in the whole work, became in the following years a valuable and esteemed element in choral repertoire both in Germany and abroad, establishing the wider reputation of Brahms. The texts chosen avoid overt Christian reference, and the composer himself suggested in private correspondence that he would have liked to substitute the word "human" for 'German' in the title. It has its roots above all in Bach and it has been suggested that Brahms may have drawn some inspiration from the much earlier work of Schütz. It is clearly vastly different in character from the liturgical Latin Requiem of Catholic tradition with its evocation of the Day of Judgement and its prayers for mercy on the souls of the dead.

The first movement of A German Requiem, Selig sind, die da Leid tragen (Blessed are they that mourn) makes telling use of the. lower strings in the orchestral accompaniment of the chorus, the absence of violins preserving a darker orchestral colouring as the movement slowly unfolds, with its sorrows and its consoling joys. The second movement, Denn alles Fleisch, es ist wie Gras (For all flesh is as the grass), derived from the scherzo-sarabande initially intended for a projected symphony, is a tragic funeral march, introduced by muted divided violins and violas, with the wind and an ominous drum-beat. Again shafts of light appear and both text and music suggest hope for the future, stressed as the chorus announces that the word of the Lord endures for ever and the basses proclaim the promised return of the redeemed of the Lord.

Herr, lehre doch mich (Lord, make me to know the measure of my days) starts with a baritone solo, echoed by the chorus, leading to a great fugue on the words "Der Gerechten Seelen sind in Gottes Hand" (The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God), anchored by a long-held organ-point from trombones, tuba and timpani. It was the enthusiasm of the player of the last of these instruments that had in part led to the failure of the first performance in Vienna, when the timpani drowned the sound of the chorus. The lyrical "Wie lieblich sind Deine Wohnungen" (How amiable are thy tabernacles), the heart of the German Requiem, is followed by the added fifth movement, Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit (Ye now therefore have sorrow), with its moving soprano solo, more directly inspired by the death of the mother of Brahms.

Denn wir haben hie keine bleibende Statt (Here on earth we have no continuing city), introduces the baritone solo with the words "Siehe, ich sage euch ein Geheimnis" (Behold, I shew you a mystery), the sound of the last trumpet (der letzten Posaune) accompanied by the brass choir of trombones and tuba in solemn chords and music that as it progresses brings fleeting suggestions of Mozart's treatment of parts of the Dies irae. The movement ends with a massive fugue, introduced by the altos with the words "Herr, Du bist würdig zu nehmen Preis und Ehre" (Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power). The whole work, in which a musical and textual balance is maintained, ends with a movement that corresponds to the opening. "Selig sind die Toten, die in dem Herren sterben" (Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord) balances the first "Selig sind, die da Leid tragen" (Blessed are they that mourn). As so often in the German Requiem, the mood if not the idiom of Bach is suggested in a movement at the heart of which the dead rest from their labour, finally to find peace in the Lord, as the work moves to its meditative close.

Writer: Keith Anderson