The Orchestra
The professional orchestra will consist of approximately 40 instruments: 9 winds, 10 brass, 18 strings, timpani, a harp and an organ as shown below:
The choral concert with full orchestra of the German Requiem by Johanes Brahms will be perform by The Choral Society of the Hamptons on July 11 for the East End of Long Island.
Drawing singers from East Hampton, Southampton, Shelter Island, Southold, Riverhead, Amagansett, Bridgehampton, Montauk, Sag Harbor, Wainscott, Water Mill, North Fork.
Top soloist and instrumentalist will join us from New York City and the Greater New York area.
Copyright 2009 Choral Society of the Hamptons all rights reserved
Johannes Brahms ~ Ein Deutsches Requiem
In composing what is acknowledged as his masterwork, Brahms chose to forgo traditional liturgical texts, such as the Roman rite in Latin used by both Mozart and Verdi, and instead selected a series of texts in German. By assembling sixteen passages from the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Apocrypha from the more modern Lutheran Bible, he created a requiem that was free of religious dogma, often using different Biblical sources within the same movement. He had a musical idea for every word he set, creating a work of remarkable unity, with moments of great musical power.
For the Choral Society of the Hamptons and the Greenwich Village Singers, performing Ein Deutsches Requiem will be an ambitious challenge. Many will remember that the choruses joined two years ago to perform Lukas Foss's tribute to America, The Prairie, at Channing Sculpture Garden in Bridgehampton and at Lincoln Center. The groups share their musical director, Mark Mangini, who inspired The Prairie performances and has chosen the Brahms Requiem as a fitting expression for our times. Written for chorus, a large orchestra, and two soloists, the Requiem is the largest work that Brahms composed. Brahms was himself a choral conductor, and the choral writing is masterful not only in its beauty but in its understanding of choral voices. The orchestra uses the string, wind, and brass families in imaginative ways to highlight the moods and images in the text. The solo parts are difficult, requiring true artistry.
Perhaps nothing else in the choral literature is as suited to this moment in history. It is a bulwark against despair in a world stricken by loss, hunger, and war. Brahms once said his Requiem “may be the most comforting ... humane requiem ever written … a message of hope for all.” The Choral Society of the Hamptons and Greenwich Village Singers hope that, by supporting us, you will be a part of the performances of this extraordinary work.
“Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” From this humble message, Johannes Brahms wrought his Requiem, one man’s personal testament to the power of hope to provide consolation in times of darkness and despair. When first performed in 1868, Ein Deutsches Requiem established Brahms internationally as a rightful successor to Bach and Beethoven. Brahms’s friend Clara Schumann described it as “a truly tremendous piece of art which moves the being in a way little else does.” Audiences and critics through the years have agreed.