Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem Aadland

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) was 31 years old when he started working on his Requiem in the spring of 1865. He had recently experienced death at close range: his mother had died in February of the same year and Brahms was mourning his loss. Perhaps the event revived fond feelings for his close composer colleague Robert Schumann, who had passed away nine years earlier.

Instead of using the Latin liturgical text which was usual practice for a Mass for the dead, Brahms chose the texts himself from Luther’s German bible. And the starting point was not a prayer for the dead, but comfort and encouragement for those who were still living. A mother’s comfort is the reference in one of the texts, from Isaiah 66: “As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you”.

The first version of the work received its world premiere in Vienna in 1867. The reactions were very mixed, and there was both booing and unrest during the concert, yet it marked the start of a growing interest in Brahms within the city. The first complete performance of the Requiem took place in Leipzig in 1869, and this time the reception was overwhelming. In a short space of time, the work was performed all over Germany, and Ein Deutsches Requiem has been an uninterrupted popular success from then until today.

The work was soon discussed and analysed from all possible angles, and not everyone was enthusiastic about the music; the composer Richard Wagner was among the sharpest critics.

Furthermore, the religious aspect created divisions in the way it was received - Brahms was an agnostic of sorts with a Protestant background. Generally, the work was more of a success in Protestant areas and countries than in Catholic ones; it did not have much success in France and Italy, but was a triumph in England and later in the US.

The seven movements of Ein Deutsches Requiem contain all in all 16 extracts from the Bible, and the work is symmetrically built up both musically and thematically. The first movement opens with a verse from the Sermon on the Mount (Matt.5:4): “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted”. The word “blessed” (selig) opens and concludes also the seventh and final movement. Musically, the work is characterised throughout by calm and dignity, but the second and sixth movement in particular are more intense and dramatic.