572694 bk Brahms_572694 bk Brahms 04/11/2011 09:12 Page 12 Erhebet ein Zwist sich, If a dispute arises, so stürzen die Gäste, the guests are reviled, geschmäht und geschändet, dishonoured and cast down, in nächliche Tiefen into nocturnal darkness und harren vergebens, and await in vain, im Finstern gebunden, bound in darkness, gerechten Gerichtes. the judgement of the just. BRAHMS Sie aber, sie bleiben But they, they remain in ewigen Festen in unending feasting an goldenen Tischen. at golden tables. Sie schreiten vom Berge They stride over and above zu Bergen hinüber. from mountain to mountain. Choral Music Aus Schlünden der Tiefe From abysses deep dampft ihnen der Atem steams the breath erstickter Titanen, of Titans suffocating, Alto Rhapsody gleich Opfergerüchen, like the odours of sacrifice, ein leichtes Gewölke. a light cloud. Ave Maria • Nänie Es wenden die Herrscher The lords turn ihr segnendes Auge their blessed eyes von ganzen Geschlechtern away from entire races Begräbnisgesang und meiden im Enkel and avoid seeing in their grandchildren die ehemals geliebten, the once-loved, still redenden Züge quiet characteristics Schicksalslied des Ahnherrn zu sehn. of their ancestors. Gesang der Parzen So sangen die Parzen; So sang the Parcae; es horcht der Verbannte the exiled one hears in nächtlichen Höhlen, in nocturnal caves, der Alte, die Lieder, the songs, the old man denkt Kinder und Enkel! thinks of children and grandchildren und schüttelt das Haupt! and shakes his head! Ewa Wolak, Contralto English versions by Keith Anderson Warsaw Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra Antoni Wit 8.572694 12 572694 bk Brahms_572694 bk Brahms 04/11/2011 09:12 Page 2 Johannes Brahms (1833-1897): Alto Rhapsody, Op. 53 • Ave Maria, Op. 12 5 Nänie op. 82 Naenia, Op. 82 Begräbnisgesang, Op. 13 • Schicksalslied, Op. 54 • Nänie, Op. 82 • Gesang der Parzen, Op. 89 Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1805) Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1805) Johannes Brahms was born in Hamburg in 1833, the son intermittently from 1863 and definitively in 1869, of a double-bass player and his much older wife, a establishing himself there and seeming to many to fulfil Auch das Schöne muß sterben! Das Menschen und Beauty too must die! What subdues men and gods seamstress. His childhood was spent in relative poverty, Schumann’s early prophecy. In him his supporters, Götter bezwinget, and his early studies in music, for which he showed a including, above all, the distinguished critic and writer nicht die eherne Brust rührt es des stygischen Zeus. does not move the iron breast of Stygian Zeus. natural aptitude, developed his talent to such an extent Eduard Hanslick, saw a true successor to Beethoven and Einmal nur erweichte die Liebe den Schattenbeherrscher, Once only did love move the ruler of the Underworld, that there was talk of touring as a prodigy at the age of a champion of pure music untrammelled by extra-musical und an der Schwelle noch, streng, rief er zurück sein and then on the threshold, unrelenting, he called back eleven. It was Eduard Marxsen who gave him a grounding associations, as opposed to the Music of the Future Geschenk. his gift. in the technical basis of composition, while the boy helped promoted by Wagner and Liszt, a path to which Joachim Nicht stillt Aphrodite dem schönen Knaben die Wunde, Aphrodite does not soothe the wounds of the handsome boy his family by playing the piano in places of entertainment. and Brahms both later publicly expressed their opposition. die in den zierlichen Leib grausam der Eber geritzt. in his graceful body cruelly torn by the boar. In 1851 Brahms met the émigré Hungarian violinist Brahms had a varied connection with choral singing. Nicht errettet den göttlichen Held die unsterbliche Mutter, Nor does the immortal Mother save the divine hero Reményi, who introduced him to Hungarian dance music In short autumn seasons at the court of Detmold he had wann er, am skäischen Tor fallend, sein Schicksal erfüllt. when he, falling at the Scaean gate, meets his fate. that had a later influence on his work. Two years later he conducted a choir in 1857, 1858 and 1859 and in the last Aber sie steigt aus dem Meer mit allen Töchtern But she ascends from the sea with all the daughters set out in his company on his first concert tour, their of these years he had established in Hamburg a women’s des Nereus, of Nereus, journey taking them, on the recommendation of the choir, the Hamburg Frauenchor, formed by enthusiastic und die Klage hebt an um den verherrlichten Sohn. and a lament is raised for the son made glorious. Hungarian violinist Joachim, to Weimar, where Franz members of the Akademie choir directed by his friend Karl Siehe, da weinen die Götter, es weinen die Göttinnen alle, See, the gods weep, all the goddesses weep Liszt held court and might have been expected to show Grädener. In addition to the regular Monday morning daß das Schöne vergeht, daß das Vollkommene stirbt. that beauty perishes, that perfection dies. particular favour to a fellow-countryman. Reményi profited meetings of the larger Frauenchor, Brahms also involved Auch ein Klagelied zu sein im Mund der Geliebten, ist herrlich, And to be a lament on the lips of the beloved is magnificent, from the visit, but Brahms, with a lack of tact that was later himself with a smaller group, who held evening meetings. denn das Gemeine geht klanglos zum Orkus hinab. for that which is base goes down unsung to Orcus. accentuated, failed to impress the Master. Later in the His first appointment in Vienna, in 1863, was as conductor year, however, he met the Schumanns, through of the Singakademie, reviving the fortunes of the choir in a Joachim’s agency. The meeting was a fruitful one. repertoire that ranged from unfashionable music of the 6 Gesang der Parzen op. 89 Song of the Fates, Op. 89 In 1850 Schumann had taken up the offer from the Renaissance to that of Beethoven and Schumann and previous incumbent, Ferdinand Hiller, of the position of compositions by Brahms himself. He was offered a three- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) municipal director of music in Düsseldorf. Now in the year extension of his agreement with the Singakademie, music of Brahms he detected a promise of greatness and but resigned in 1864. Nevertheless, in 1872 he took up Es fürchte die Götter The gods should be feared published his views in the journal he had once edited, the the position of director of the Gesellschaft der das Menschengeschlecht! by the race of mankind! Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, declaring Brahms the long- Musikfreunde. This involved him in work with the most Sie halten die Herrschaft They hold power awaited successor to Beethoven. In the following year distinguished of the large choirs in Vienna. For three in ewigen Händen in eternal hands Schumann, who had long suffered from intermittent seasons he was able to offer a varied and innovative und können sie brauchen, and can use it periods of intense depression, attempted suicide. His final choral and orchestral repertoire, including some of his wie’s ihnen gefällt. as they will. years, until his death in 1856, were to be spent in an own major choral compositions, most notably his asylum, while Brahms rallied to the support of masterpiece, A German Requiem. Der fürchte sie doppelt, He whom they raise up Schumann’s wife, the gifted pianist Clara Schumann, and The setting made by Brahms of the Ave Maria, Op. den je sie erheben! should doubly fear them! her young family, remaining a firm friend until her death in 12, was composed in September 1858 at Göttingen, Auf Klippen und Wolken On crags and clouds 1896, shortly before his own in the following year. designed originally for women’s choir with organ sind Stühle bereitet chairs are set Brahms had always hoped that sooner or later he accompaniment. He made use of it the following year in um goldene Tische. about golden tables. would be able to return in triumph to a position of Hamburg at the Michaeliskirche, its performance marking distinction in the musical life of Hamburg. This ambition the start of the Hamburg Frauenchor. It is a work of gentle was never fulfilled. Instead he settled in Vienna, simplicity in a lilting 6/8 Andante, with the traditional text 8.572694 2 11 8.572694 572694 bk Brahms_572694 bk Brahms 04/11/2011 09:13 Page 10 4 Schicksalslied op. 54 Song of Destiny, Op. 54 abbreviated by the omission of the final phrase. beat, the E flat major orchestral opening, marked Brahms’s Begräbnisgesang (Funeral Hymn) was Langsam und sehnsuchtsvoll (Slow and full of yearning) Friedrich Hölderlin (1770-1843) Friedrich Hölderlin (1770-1843) written in the same year and scored for five-part choir, suggests the world of the blessed spirits. There is a soprano, alto, tenor and two basses, the second change of mood for the opening of the third stanza, a Ihr wandelt droben im Licht You walk above in the light partnered by the bassoon where it diverges from the first tempestuous Allegro in C minor which reflects the feeling auf weichem Boden, selige Genien! on soft ground, blessed spirits! bass part. Brahms had originally used lower strings, but of the text, with humanity given no place to rest, and Glänzende Götterlüfte Brilliant divine breezes the final version is for pairs of oboes, clarinets, bassoons marking, in particular, in abrupt chords, the final rühren Euch leicht, lightly brush against you, and horns, with three trombones, tuba and timpani, comparison of life to water flung from cliff to cliff.