The critics in Vienna were quick to comment that Johannes Brahms did not include the word “Jesus” in his Requiem. Brahms simply responded that as the composer of this music he decided what words and what music should comprise this amazing work for voices and orchestra.
This music is about consolation, about sadness, and about Blessings for all those who grieve for their loss…
Brahms’ Requiem, completed in 1868, draws on the legacy of his forerunners, Heinrich Schütz and Johann Sebastian Bach. In setting texts from the German Bible, it deliberately departs from the models of the Catholic liturgy and imposes a sorrowing yet consolatory meditation on death in the manner of a poignant cradle song for the dead.
One of my favorite sopranos is a soloist here: Her name is Christiane Karg.
Here is Ms. Karg, singing “You have just Sadness now” (Traurigkeit, in German)
