Concert: Brahms – Ein Deutsches Requiem

”Selig sind, die da Leid tragen, denn sie sollen getröstet werden.” (Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Matthew 5:4)

With these words Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) opens his work Ein deutsches Requiem.

In February 1865, Johannes Brahms lost his beloved mother. The 31-year-old composer also carried with him the grief of his friend and colleague Robert Schumann’s death nine years earlier. Perhaps it was these events that inspired him to compose Ein deutsches Requiem, which received its premiere in its final form in Leipzig in 1869.

It was an unusual requiem, differing in many ways from the traditional masses for the dead. Instead of the Latin liturgical text, Brahms selected biblical passages from Martin Luther’s German translation of the Bible, which is why the work is sung in German. Nor is the work a prayer for the repose of the dead, but rather an embrace for the living who mourn. In his beautiful seven-movement requiem, Brahms allows sorrow to breathe, yet gently guides it toward hope, light, and acceptance—from the valley of doubt and tears to the promise of peace, comfort, and rest. Ein deutsches Requiem is thus a multifaceted work, clothed in music so transcendently beautiful that it surpasses time and place.

The Swedish Chamber Choir invites you to a unique and intimate chamber music version of this masterpiece, letting its heartfelt texts and deeply human expression come close to the audience. With radiant choral sound, outstanding soloists, and sensitive accompaniment, you will experience one of music history’s most consoling and magnificent works in a way that moves and inspires.

Karin Birgersson & Johannes Bolmvall (piano)
Lydia Kjellberg (soprano), Arvid Eriksson (baritone)

18 October 6 pm – Ljungs kyrka, Ljungskile
19 October 6 pm – Ödsmåls kyrka, Stenungsund
1 November 4 pm – Christinae Kyrka, Gothenburg
2 November 4 pm – Christinae Kyrka, Gothenburg