BBC Proms 2013: Prom 47: Brahms – A German Requiem

Rachel Harnisch, Henk Neven, OAE and Marin Alsop live at the BBC Proms with one of the greats of the choral repertoire - Brahms's German Requiem - and works by Brahms and Schumann live from the Royal Albert Hall, London.

Inspired by the death of his own mother, the German Requiem of Johannes Brahms is famously a piece which sets out to console the living, rather than commending to eternity the souls of the dead. With texts assembled by Brahms himself from the Lutheran Bible, its deliberate avoidance of Christian theology was a source of concern at early performances, but the premiere of the complete work in 1868 was a triumphant turning-point in Brahms's career. Tonight's performance, using period instruments and choral forces of the sort and size Brahms himself would have known, places his masterwork in the context of his relationship with friends and fellow-composers Robert and Clara Schumann - alongside performances of Schumann's masterly Fourth Symphony and Brahms's own Tragic Overture.

Programme

Brahms: Tragic Overture (Op 81)

Schumann: Symphony No. 4 in D minor

Brahms: A German Requiem

Rachel Harnisch (soprano)

Henk Neven (baritone)

Choir of the Enlightenment

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

Marin Alsop (conductor)

Presenter / Clemency Burton-Hill, Producer / Michael Emery for the BBC

Publicity contact: BBC Radio 3 Publicity