Come and Sing 2022
Brahms Requiem (in English)
Saturday 26th February 2022 9:45AM
Nottingham Harmonic Choir
Conductor Richard Laing
Piano Jonathan Allsopp
Booking Form (Excel File - please download and then enable editing after opening)
Booking Form (PDF Printable Version)
Brahms’ Requiem is a unique work. It is both a Mass for the dead, and a celebration of life. It is also that rare beast: a religious composition devoid of dogma. Brahms selected his own texts from the Lutheran bible rather than from the Roman Catholic Mass, but pointedly avoided any references to Christ; neither is there any mention of redemption bought for us by a sacrificial god. This is an ecumenical Requiem, uniquely ahead of its time. Brahms had even toyed with the idea of entitling the work Ein Menschliches Requiem (‘A Human Requiem’). When questioned about the lack of references to the Redeemer in the work, Brahms answered briefly but diplomatically, concluding, ‘I had better stop before I say too much.’ Church authorities baulked at this work being called a Requiem at all, and when it was premiered in Bremen on Good Friday 1868, music from Handel’s Messiah (‘I know that my redeemer liveth’) was inserted between Brahms’ movements to satisfy the clergy.
Today, thankfully, attitudes are generally more liberal than in Brahms’ own time, and his great Requiem is more popular than it has ever been. It was written in the language of the people rather than in Latin (hence ‘Deutsches Requiem’), so we can sing it in English, safe in the knowledge that the composer would approve!
We hope you can join us for what promises to be an enjoyable and inspiring day.
The seating will be socially distanced for this event.
For health & safety reasons we have decided not to provide refreshments so please arrange to bring your own.
