Recorded in August 2022 during concerts at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie
by the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg under the direction of Kent Nagano,
this rendition of Johannes Brahms’s celebrated choral masterpiece may come as a
surprise to many.
Rather than the usual seven-movement version of A German Requiem, this
performance presents the work as it was first heard in Bremen Cathedral on Good
Friday, 10th April 1868, under Brahms’s own direction—without the fifth movement
for soprano and choir, which was completed later that year.
In addition, the performance features numerous interludes—both instrumental and vocal,
secular and sacred—by composers such as Bach, Tartini, Schumann, and Handel. These pieces
were considered essential components of a Good Friday concert at the time.
While such a program might seem unusual today, these musical additions cast new light on
Brahms’s work, presenting it as what Umberto Eco might have described as an ‘open work.’
Recreating the form heard at the Bremen première is more than just a historical
reconstruction; it enriches our understanding of this unique music.
