Johannes Brahms: A German Requiem with the Bel Canto Chorus

For those of you who don't know yet, I (Frau Warner) am also a classical singer and I love the Germanic repertoire. The Bel Canto Chorus here in Milwaukee, along with the Kettle Moraine Symphony, is performing Johannes Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem) on May 21, 2023 at 3:00 pm.

If you're unfamiliar with the text, or would simply like to enjoy getting to know the text before the concert (or maybe you simply love music, like I do?!), these videos are for you!

In each video, one per movement for each of the seven movements, I pronounce the text in German and the English is on the right. You will also see single words and some phrases bolded because these are either easy to hear in the piece, they are words you will hear along the way through one of the movements, or they are significant in meaning and in the way Brahms set them to music.

I refer to them as 'anchor words.'

Viel Vergnügen!

Movement 1

Movement 2

Movement 3

Movement 4

Movement 5

Movement 6

Movement 7

Be sure to visit belcanto.org and get your tickets now for the concert (with a huge choir!) on May 21, 2023 at 3 pm.

Did you find this article after May 21, 2023?

Here's a YouTube link to the hr-Sinfonieorchester performing ein deutsches Requiem, conducted by David Zinman, with Christiane Karg, Sopran, Michael Nagy, Bariton, and the MDR-Rundfunkchor (Nicolas Fink, Choreinstudierung). It was recorded in the Alte Oper Frankfurt in October 2019. https://youtu.be/ZXU9vqVdudM