Brahms Requiem, Op. 45

Most people experience Brahms’ Requiem listening to a performance by a full symphony orchestra and a chorus of two hundred voices (or more). But rest assured, this intimate performance is not only artistically justified but positively advantageous in many ways, as we can appreciate with further perspective on Brahms’ life and times, on his musical materials and craftsmanship, and on the unique interrelationships between the German and English translations of Brahms’ chosen biblical texts.

The four-hand piano arrangement of Brahms’ German Requiem was made in 1869, originally for performance in London with soloists and chorus. Piano transcriptions of Brahms’ orchestral works were common, but in this case the task was a bit more complex than usual: translating the highly independent and varied instrumental parts to an effective accompaniment for the substantial and preeminent choral writing. This requiem, as contrasted to the Catholic mass for the dead, presents no doctrine, instead it offers hope and solace without suggesting judgment or terror.