Ein deutsches Requiem, nach Worten der heiligen Schrift by Brahms, Do. 18 Aug. 2022, Ab (2022/2022), Dirigat Nicolas Fink, Christkirche, Rendsburg, Deutschland

Johannes Brahms wanted to create a requiem »for the people« – one that is not committed to being performed in a church service, but above all is able to give hope beyond all conventions and restrictions. With his "German Requiem" op. 45, Brahms composed one of his most touching and comforting works, it signified his artistic breakthrough - the influential music critic Eduard Hanslick, for example, explained the success after the premiere in Bremen in 1868 by saying that Brahms' Requiem was closer to our hearts than any other work of this kind. The Festival Choir dedicates itself to the timeless work in a version for two pianos and timpani, which places particular focus on the vocal part: Brahms did not set the usual Latin text of a requiem to music, but chose passages from the Old and New Testament himself. He later arranged his monumental orchestral version for piano duet, integrating the choral parts into the piano part. Heinrich Poos created a version from this that extracts the vocal writing again and is characterized by extremely slim textures, which make Brahms' compositional techniques transparent and let the work shine in a new sonorous light. The Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival would like to thank the Hanseatic City of Lüneburg for sponsoring the concert.