Brahms' famous German Requiem, held by some to have been written in memory of Schumann, by others in memory of the composer's mother. This work was written for soprano and baritone soli, SATB chorus and orchestra. Musically, the German Requiem marks a turning point in compositional technique by which Brahms influenced the entire world of music. The way he arranged the seven movements and composed individual passages demonstrates that his thinking was free from musical as well as Christian dogma. Brahms conducted the first performance of the work, comprising six movements, before an audience of 2,000 in Bremen Cathedral on Good Friday 1868, and it met with a positive response from the entire German musical community. In February 1869 the final version, consisting of seven movements, premiered in Leipzig. Brahms was then thirty-six and had worked on the requiem for more than a decade.

Quelle: Arthaus Musik