The German Requiem by Johannes Brahms was composed in memory of his mother.
Brahms was tutored from an early age in Scripture, and he retained a love for Biblical language throughout his life. He began to piece together a text celebrating the seasons of life, fusing several old and New Testament verses into a unique text for the Requiem.
The slow movement which Brahms had been sketching for a symphony provided the basis for the funeral march (“Behold, all flesh is as the grass”) that opens the second movement of the Requiem. He planned five other movements, and worked at it for another year.
Brahms then set aside the Requiem to allow himself time for reflection about this work, the largest thing he had completed to this point.
At that time, conductor Johann Herbeck offered to try out the first three movements of the Requiem on one of the Philharmonic Society concerts in Vienna.
This poorly-prepared partial performance was hardly a success, but Brahms continued his work, and his friend, Clara Schumann, had heartily endorsed the piano score.
The premiere performance of the completed work took place at the Bremen Cathedral on Good Friday, 1868, and it was an overwhelming success, requiring an encore performance later that month.
Listen now to a moving performance by orchestra and chorus of the German Requiem by Johannes Brahms:
