Revisions led to an Arturo Toscanini, NBC Symphony, Westminster Choir, Herbert Janssen, Vivian Della Chiesa (1943, Guild CD, Pristine download; 71'). Near the end of a life driven by passion and painstaking preparation, conductor Robert Shaw was completing a new English translation of one of his signature pieces, the Brahms Requiem. Even so, while the tenor is fine, the soprano soloist is more grating than comforting, so you may want to invoke historical precedent and emulate the work's second premiere by skipping the fifth movement. ], Willem Mengelberg, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam Toonkunst Choir, Max Kloos, Jo Vincent (1940, Turnabout LP, 65'). Each movement is appreciably slower, often strikingly so the opening sprawls to 1210 compared to 925 in his 1943 NBC broadcast, and the finale to 1305 vs. 940 in 1943. Scholars note that in 1636 Heinrich Schtz had composed a Teutsche Begrbnis-Missa ("German Funeral Mass") which he had described as "a Concerto in the form of a German Burial Mass" and which had used the same opening text as the German Requiem, but Brahms may not have known it. Hanslick added that "a work so hard to understand and dwelling on nothing but ideas of death should not expect a popular success and should fail to please many elements of the great public." (In contrast, Bach's secular 1727 "Funeral Ode" cantata, # 198, whose title suggests a more direct connection, is a diffuse treatment of a pompous ceremonial poem with far more musical than literary merit.). He's often described as a "secular humanist" (perhaps synonymous with "agnostic"), but grew up in the Lutheran church and would have had strong sentimental, if not religious, connections to the Yet even in the 20th century, Specht castigated its fugues as "petrification of rough-hewn themes" and as "music for the eyes" that doesn't move the soul, even while conceding that "never before had the departed been sung to rest with a lullaby of such solemnity and consoling beauty." Speaking of slow performances As summarized by Patrick Lang in his CD liner notes, Celibidache's Brahms was thoroughly serious, weighty and deep, with controlled, internalized passion and severe aristocratic stillness governing all its emotions. Nowadays, systematic building of discipline is far less common, and so is the irascible, cantankerous kind of conductor Shaw could sometimes be. Brahms, though, with no liturgical purpose, was not bound to any particular content or order and could fashion the entire work according to musical logic. Brahms once stated it would be as well to call the work A Human Requiem. Hardings sense of structure in this 2019 recording is assured and persuasive, evoking a slow, dignified but steady move from the depths of grief into a bruised but courageous renewal. Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem, Op. 45 Even the pastoral IV surges with a radiant spirit and strongly assertive choral singing. Others dwell more figuratively on the relationship of text and music, as when regarding the pedal point that accompanies the conclusion of the third movement as symbolizing the firmness of faith. C Minor Brahms - Essay Example The recording quality is decent and the only trace of the rapt audience is their light stirring between movements. Inserting the Handel aria was clearly a sticking-plaster solution, so Brahms wrote a new fifth movement, for soprano solo and chorus, on the words: Now you mourn, but I will comfort you like a mother. The primary stimulus appears to have come with Schumann's untimely death in 1856. Musical illustrations are performed on the violin and piano. The piece unfolds patiently and beautifully, with due attention to detail instead of the customary blur of growly bass, movement I begins with its joined quarter notes articulated just enough to add rhythmic support to the coalescing haze. As a result, Lehmann leaves an overall impression of implacable sadness, only occasionally relieved by especially prominent brass within the shallow sonics. WebA German Requiem, To Words of the Holy Scriptures, Op. Three movements were trialled unsuccessfully in Vienna, but some listeners recognised that it was perhaps too austere, too Bach-Protestant for the pleasure-loving Viennese. Nearly all the great Furtwngler concert recordings reflect his long leadership of the Berlin or Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras (and the corresponding familiarity and empathy of their musicians with his deeply personal and erratic style), and his results with foreign ensembles were mostly disappointing. WebA German Requiem, Op. As Specht put it: "By its use of a German text in place of the Latin, it should speak far more impressively to every mourner than a setting of a dead language, the solemnity of which could affect but a few." Brahms, though, based his work on his own selection of texts from the Lutheran Bible and, unlike in a requiem Mass, shifts the focus from the dead to the living. The titles of most classical works are merely generic ("Symphony # 1 in C Major"), descriptive ("Scheherazade") or appended by others and often sadly inappropriate (the "Moonlight" Sonata). One of the last vestiges of the vigor that distinguished Walter's long career until the very end (which regrettably is the only portion most classical fans know nowadays from his final Columbia stereo remakes), this magnificent reading is beautifully paced, never rushed but always pressing forward with energy and a strong rhythmic thrust, including overpowering timpani in II, an extraordinary rarity in the entire Walter discography. Were going to do it anyway, Shaw decided. Brahms was a structural composer, according to Musgrave, and as such he would think about the totality of the work. Joseph Braunstein contends that Brahms was deeply affected by Schumann's suicide attempt the next year and wanted to express his emotions in a large-scale work but realized he was not yet prepared and abandoned the effort. Within those large sections, look for cadences to determine where the divisions are. While looking at structure, dont get distracted by the text, Jones counsels. It comprises seven movements, which together last 65 to 80 minutes, making it Brahms's longest composition. With the NBC concert, we confront the vexing issue of translation. I used to say, My job is to get the water ready for him to walk on. I nearly drowned many times. Jones remembers that even a little thing like stumbling over a name would cause him to take it out on us. Brahms responded that hed deliberately omitted such passages. Similarly, the Andante con moto of the final movement was replaced with Feierlich (ceremonially) regardless of how it is done, it remains challenging even for experienced choirs. While Katherine Fuge and Matthew Brook are not the most distinctive soloists, they integrate beautifully into an ensemble characterised by creamily smooth strings and the Monteverdi Choirs strong but agile sound. He also prefaces the German Requiem with a fine bonus Brahms' early Begrbnisgesang ("Burial Song"), a sensitive but rather routine setting for choir, brass and winds of a Lutheran hymn that speaks of eternal life, even while ending with a somber reminder of death's inevitability. With the sixth movement we reach the dramatic climax. All the score's details are heard clearly in an ideal balance without highlighting even the superstar soloists are placed back in the proper perspective, so that Fischer-Dieskau's effortless conviction and Schwartzkopf's sweet modesty are embedded within, rather than dominating, their sections. This will be between the soloists, the audience, and me. Ratzlaff says the singer next to him vowed he would never perform for Shaw again. This is the most widely-acclaimed stereo recording of the German Requiem, and rightly so. WebBrahms chose the texts that were dearest to him. To return to the title, a further connotation addresses the issue of language itself. James Levines 2004 recording with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra would reinforce that view it is dirge-like without grandeur, unrelentingly static. Brahmss choice of texts is central to the Requiems originality. LSU Digital Commons | Louisiana State University Research Requiem A symposium presented by Chorus America in honor of the Shaw centenary explored the conductors deep connection to this masterworkand what it reveals about his approach to music and his legacy. In the second The recording is somewhat crude and uncomfortably poised between clear vocals and hazy instrumentals. At a slow and patient 79 minutes, time seems suspended in a rarified atmosphere of deep spirituality. The unusual string sound borrows much from the world of historical performance, but without sacrificing the luxurious sound and emotional vulnerability that come with the use of vibrato. Interviewed for the video, he called it the fastest way to unify sound and find metric divisions, adding, youd be surprised how you can undiscipline a choir by beginning with text the first time., Answering a symposium participants question, Shaws longtime assistant, Norman Mackenzie, current director of choruses at the ASO, explained the rationale for count singing this way: Its the principle of building blocks. Although the fifth movement was not performed till 1869, ten months after the Bremen premiere, Musgrave does not believe it was a late addition to the other six movements, as some have claimed. My only quibbles are a slightly stodgy pacing of the VI fugue and a bad splice before its final "Where is thy sting." Kargs sound is dramatic, if not ideally matched to Goerne, but again it is the silky-smooth orchestral-choral sound that wins over. A German Requiem, Op. 45 | work by Brahms | Britannica WebThis is a strategy Brahms will use several more times during the German Requiem. Eduard Hanslick, who ultimately would bestow upon the work the supreme praise of being a worthy successor to Bach's B Minor Mass and Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, likened the ending to "rattling through a tunnel on an express train" and wrote: "After long expanses of delicately lyrical, poetic music, the piece seemed to end by clubbing the audience about the head." Thus, Armin Zebrowski infers from the fourth movement's blessing of those who dwell in the house of the Lord a reciprocal meaning of God dwelling within us and thus giving rise to true peace, which, in turn, magnifies the significance of the tranquil musical setting. Hermann Abendroth, Radio Berlin Orchestra and Chorus, Heinz Friedrich, Lisbeth Schmidt-Glanzel (1952, Tahra CD, 76'). One doesnt have time not to do that, she said of his meticulous planning. It is especially directed toward conductors, but it is also useful for choristers and By entering your details, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions and privacy policy. The composer was moving between cities, seeking professional opportunities. WebSDG is happy to present last recording issued from the 2008 Brahms: Roots and Memories tour, in which John Eliot Gardiner and his ensembles explored the music of Johannes Brahms. On the one hand, performances in the local language would seem take the composer's desire for accessibility to its logical conclusion, enabling audiences to understand the words and better appreciate their musical settings. The final movement at last delivers a long-deferred prayer for the dead from Revelations 14:13. The most common English renderings of "Blessed are" or "Blessed they" generate multiple problems at the very outset. He solved all the challenges long before the first rehearsal of a piece in a way that made total sense to a singer.. WebAn analysis and overview of Johannes Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem. Jessop apprenticed with Shaw during the 1980s, and stepped in to conduct the 1999 recording of Shaws Requiem translation in the wake of Shaws death. During this period of his career, Brahms was paying close attention to Bach, Schtz, and the Lutheran choral tradition. Perhaps the most direct model was Bach, who set each of his 295 Church cantatas as a series of recitatives, arias, choruses, chorales and sinfonias (instrumental interludes) to a selection of Biblical texts, poetry and hymns intended to reflect and expound upon a teaching or concept. But you must make it clear if youre not absolutely sure so the next generation knows where they stand. While marginally more dramatic (the powerful chord that concludes III is sustained for an astounding 18 seconds; in Stockholm it was "only" 12), the Lucerne recording resisted even the extraordinary restoration efforts of Maggi Payne and remains sonically challenging, afflicted not just with poor fidelity but severe wow, overload distortion and noise that often overwhelms the music and precludes genuine appreciation. The very opening heralds an especially devoted reading, as each orchestral phrase is layered with cumulative power, and we feel the weight of each word as Furtwngler constantly fine-tunes his tempos and smoothly integrates a vast dynamic range from gentle whispers to hair-raising climaxes through exquisite transitions. For many, this is the expressive heart of the work, recalling Brahmss own tragic loss. Jessop was singing for Shaw in France, and a concert of Brahms songs all related to evening, was to take place in a Toulouse cloister. Johannes Brahms's many masterpieces have a confidence and ebullience, an irresistible lyricism and melodic charm, and show no sign of losing their appeal more than 120 years after his death. Brahms crafted the structure of his German Requiem to bolster the impact of the disparate textual sources he had assembled. Johannes Brahms leads his lifelong friend Clara Schumann up the aisle of St. Peter's Cathedral in Bremen, arm-in-arm, as though they were about to be From the very outset, the German Requiem has found favor, both with choral societies (especially amateur ones), who appreciated its relatively undemanding technical requirements and stamina, and with audiences, who undoubtedly welcomed its warm messages of comfort and hope. WebLSU Digital Commons | Louisiana State University Research So he would prepare obsessively, anticipating issues with balance, pitch, and rhythm, and so on. Unlike most large religious works, the German Requiem was not written in response to a commission or for a public event, and so efforts to trace its inspiration are somewhat diffuse. The second movement combines thoughts of mortality ("All flesh is as grass"), patience, the permanence of God and the joy of redemption. Take away the text. Symposium chair Andr Thomas, director of choral activities at Florida State University, dreamed that for the participants, it would feel something like sitting around the table with the renowned mentor Nadia Boulanger, a chance for them to spend four days immersed in the genius of Brahms and one of his greatest interpreters, Robert Shaw. Brahms' selection of texts afforded a unique opportunity. Beautifully balanced and richly recorded, he injects just enough animation to communicate a fully-integrated view of the piece and Fischer-Dieskau's expressive fluidity is wondrous. Without belittling others' valid proactive and personalized approaches, this is a performance for the ages that can be heard repeatedly and cherished by future generations. A 1983 remake with Shaw's Atlanta forces, which by then he had led for 15 years, boasts a superlative early digital recording and a somewhat broader overall pace that trades the sweep and momentum of the earlier reading for a sense of well-being. Although Brahms had al-ready worked on A German Requiem, his Robert Shaw rehearsing the Atlanta Symphony at Carnegie Hall. In Powerpoint style Dr. Ted gives us an introduction to Brahms greatest choral work. Brahms humbly suggests that all we can do is accept our unavoidable fate while life goes on for the benefit of the living, who must make the most of their brief time and pass along their deeds, findings, thoughts, hopes and wisdom as others have done before them. In the notes to his recording, Gardiner asserts that he attempted to eschew a standard smooth approach in favor of the Baroque devices that Brahms, more than any other composer of his time, studied, cherished and assimilated, including dissonance, cross-rhythms and syncopation, and in particular Schtz's speech- and dance-derived rhythms. Vocally, Brahms is as exhausting a piece as a chorus is asked to sing, he told the video interviewer. Yet, a translation that reflects the tight interdependence of Brahms' music and the sheer sound evoked by his original words seems elusive, if not utterly futile. WebAbstract: Johannes Brahms was the first composer to claim the requiem genre without utilizing the Catholic Missa pro defunctis text. H. Kevil explains that 19th century ears, accustomed to attempts to express emotional reality, found Brahms' level approach a sign of sterile pedantry. The text that Brahms fashioned is derived from the Old and New Testaments as well as the Apocrypha, with all but the fourth movement a blend of these sources. It gave the composer a sense of how massive the piece would be. He changed our profession, he changed choral music in the United States of America, says Ann Howard Jones, a symposium faculty member who assisted Shaw with the Atlanta Symphony Chorus in the 1980s and 90s and went on to direct choral activities at Boston University. The quotations and other factual information for this article are primarily derived from the following sources: Armin Zebrowski: "Brahms' German Requiem" (article in, R. Kinloch Anderson Karajan/Berlin (Angel SB-3838, 1977), William Mann Klemperer/Philharmonia (Angel SB-3624, 1961), Siegfried Kross Karajan/Berlin (DG 2707 018, 196x), Leonard Burkat Levine/Chicago (RCA ARC2-5002, 1977), Joseph Braunstein Bamberger/Hamburg (Nonesuch HB 73003 (1966), Karl Geiringer Haitink/Vienna State Opera (Philips 6769 055, 196x), H. Kevil Koch/Berlin RSO (Musical Heritage Society 3724/25, William S. Newman Barenboim/London (DG 2707 066, 1979), Walter Neimann Ormandy/Philadelphia (Columbia M2S 686, 1962), Robert Shaw Robert Shaw/RCA Symphony (RCA LM 6004, 1948), Andre Tubeuf and Alan Blyth Karajan/Vienna (EMI 61010, 1988), Robert Pascall Norrington/London Classical Players (EMI 54658, 1993), Steven Ledbetter Shaw/Atlanta (Telarc CD-80092, 1984), Robert Shaw Jessop/Utah (Telarc CD-80501, 1999), Patrick Lang Celibidache/Munich (EMI 56843, 1999), Martin Smith Gardiner/Orchestra Revolutionnaire (Philips 432 140, 1991), Eva Pinter Schuricht/Stuttgart (Hanssler 93.144, 2004), Roger Norrington his CD of the Brahms Symphony # 1 (EMI 54286, 1991). WebFor the Requiem, he draws melodic inspiration from the tunes and rhythms of Gregorian chant, which thought in similarly long phrases. Musgrave describes him as a cultural Christian; Brahms referred to himself as a heathen. Absent from his Requiem are both the specter of eternal damnation and the promise of redemption through Christs sacrifice. On December 1, 1867 the first three movements were given in Vienna. After its official premiere in Bremen on Good Friday, 1868, Ein deutsches Requiem made Brahmss name, Musgrave told symposium participants. The pace picks up in the last two movements, beautifully conveying the mourners healing. This first recording of the German Requiem was a propitious match of artists and repertoire. An October 30, 1937 Toscanini concert with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus (and soloists Alexander Sved and Isobel Baillie) presents an astonishing contrast in which he unfolds the Requiem with extreme reflection, basking in a remarkable 82 minutes. The full work was first heard in Leipzig on February 18, 1869, completed by the lovely new fifth movement. Four years later, this magnificent work fulfilled the prophecy of Brahmss genius made by Claras husband Robert in 1853. Some may regard Toscanini's manner as a model of sophistication and integrity, mostly refusing to inject himself into the splendor of the music itself and enabling its structure to emerge in our minds, but it may strike others as too impersonal and abstract; I tend to prefer a more proactive approach that directly communicates a deeper range of human feeling. But Faur was quite explicit about how to go about achieving this freedom. WebThis book is intended to help those who are contemplating performing or studying the Brahms Requiem. She is a regular critic for BBC Music Magazine and broadcaster on BBC Radio 3 and BBC TV. Its performance direction, Langsam und sehnsuchtsvoll (slow and full of longing), is an unusual tempo designation for Brahms. An harmonic analysis of the German requiem of Brahms Critics, though, were less enchanted, often tempering admiration of its universal message and its integration of old and new musical elements with concern over its deliberately attenuated range and overriding sobriety. Composers of Latin requiems could inject themselves only partially into the final product, as each section had to illustrate, if not advance, the dogmatic progression as well as the prescribed wording of each required section a mournful Requiem aeternam, a fiery Dies irae, a somber Rex tremendae, a fearful Lacrymosa, a comforting Agnus Dei, etc. A German Requiem (Johannes Brahms) - LA Phil Many commentators have noted with great admiration Brahms' deep knowledge of the Bible. By April, he sent Clara Schumann two movements of the Requiem. He sent her the fourth movement, and described the first and second movements. How do its origins, Brahmss choice of texts, and the works performance history contribute to our understanding? As Andr Tubeuf quipped, Vienna may have lacked everything at the time except music. Brahms But while using the same forces, Lehmann and Kempe exemplify two interpretive extremes within that tradition. After a long hiatus, the sporadic recording history of the German Requiem resumed in curious fashion in 1955, when two mono LP sets were recorded at the same location by the same orchestra and chorus but released on competing European labels. She related the memory in mid-April to an audience that could well appreciate its poignancy, an intimate group of choral musicians assembled in Atlantas Woodruff Arts Center for the Robert Shaw Centenary Symposium on the Brahms Requiem, presented by Chorus America and hosted by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus (ASO). As conductors, we so often have to push singers to make the rhythm. WebSummary. It begins with the pulse. WebIt is an oratorio, a choral setting of biblical texts, and has little to do with the Latin Requiem Mass. Maurice Durufl's Requiem: the best recordings, Britten's War Requiem: the story of how Britten came to compose his most famous piece. A recent Pristine restoration improves the fidelity to a remarkable degree, but, with equal irony, at the expense of reinstating the linguistic problems. I feel like an eagle, soaring ever higher and higher." But he destroyed his sketches of the work, so scholars like Musgrave are left to puzzle over what inspired this unique masterpiece and how it all came together. The chorale lay at the root of the Requiem.. It is both curious and disturbing that such an accessible work had to wait until 1947 for its first studio recordings clearly a sign of producers' low confidence in its commercial prospects. WebVince Sheehan explores the themes, structure and text of this choral masterpiece. Christiane Karg (soprano), Matthias Goerne (baritone); Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra/ Daniel Harding. As evidenced by the timings noted so far, the traditional "German" pacing for the German Requiem tends to be measured, and so here. Indeed, while the Catholic requiem begins with a blessing for the dead, here death is not even mentioned until the penultimate movement, nor are the dead themselves addressed until the finale. Shaws rehearsals for a 1990 Carnegie Hall performance of the Brahms Requiem, captured on video and screened at the symposium, begin with the opening notes, but not with the words Selig sind. Instead, the singers intone One and two and tee and four and, one and two and tee and four and, one and. The technique, count singing, is often associated with Shaw. In order to clarify Brahms' contrapuntal textures, Gardiner's orchestra uses Viennese instruments mellow-sounding horns, shorter oboes and brighter kettledrums played with hard sticks as well as such techniques of the time as expressive string bowing with sparing vibrato. It was his love for this art form. For example, most of the tempo markings in early versions were simply Andante. The performance itself faithfully follows Shaw's own interpretations. He was absorbing musical influences ranging from Wagners operas to Schuberts choral and orchestral works, which were emerging posthumously in Vienna. Yet in the more segmented movements he manages to differentiate the individual sections, thus maintaining their integrity and distinctive character, even while integrating them through logical transitions. The stillness and tranquillity of the final movement brings a satisfying sense of closure and healing. For Jones, the most important lesson to pass along at the symposium was Shaws commitment to the symbols on the page as being what the composer wanted to hear. Prior to Shaw, Jones argued, American choral music was too much about the conductorthe Westminster sound, the St. "A German Requiem" by Brahms DW 04/09/2020 I saw in that moment what motivated his entire life. Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem, Op. 45 Klaus Blum found resemblances between the Brahms German Requiem and two requiems that Schumann had written. In notes to his companion set of the Brahms symphonies, Norrington summarizes his approach as using forthright, spacious tempos subject to sensitive but simple variation, clear textures, wind-favored balances, and phrasing with warmth, sparkle and passion. The timings, both overall and of individual movements, are somewhat deceptive, as his fast sections are very rapid, while the slow portions tend to be quite measured. Some of my colleagues think Im crazy, admits Musgrave, but Im convinced Ochs was right. WebClearly, he had nothing positive to say about the Requiem: not only did he abhor the Protestant-bourgeois musical ethics which the piece embodied, but he was also By setting the final thought that "their works follow them" to the same music as the opening prayer for comfort (but with brighter orchestration), Brahms not only ties the conclusion back to the initial focus upon those who remain to mourn but envelops the entire work and, by implication, all human endeavor, fear and hope with the supreme consolation of a Divine embrace. Shaw's brisker pace itself provides sufficient vigor to obviate a need for overt dramatizing, although he accelerates the proclamation of victory swallowing death in VI to a white heat, which further underlines its climactic role in the overall structure, and leads logically into a steadfast rendition of the following fugue praising God the Creator, as if to emphasize the inevitability of that thought.
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