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Johannes Brahms, 1833-1897 Lynn Sjolund Conductor/Artistic DIrector CONDUCTOR'S NOTES About the Requiem by Johannes Brahms Performance dates: February 25, 26, 2012 The Requiem of Johannes Brahms was first performed in 1868. From its very beginning it enjoyed great success which continues today. Any short list of great chorale compositions would include this profound work. Bach, Handel, Mendelssohn, Mozart, and Haydn did some of their finest work with chorus and orchestra and Brahms continued the tradition using the musical idiom of the Romantic Era. Brahms conceived the Requiem as a composition for full orchestra and a choir of more than 200 voices. Most performances are given with far fewer singers so there is always a decided imbalance between the choir and very large orchestra. Because Brahms believed the work should be sung by all sizes of groups he wrote an accompaniment for piano and also a version for piano duet. Recently a German composer has gone a step further and written a version for chamber orchestra, and it is this arrangement that may be heard on February 25 and 26 when the Chorale performs with fine players from the Rogue Valley Symphony. Though not available in the United States yet, we were able to obtain the score and parts directly from Carus-Verlag, the publisher. Written for strings, woodwind quintet, and tympani it uses the smallest possible number of instruments by different doublings and sound combinations. Another advantage of using a chamber orchestra instead of a full orchestra is cost. Each time the Chorale hires a chamber orchestra it costs about five thousand dollars for rehearsals and performances. A full orchestra would cost three times as much and probably more because additional rehearsals would be required. Questions are often raised about the fact that Brahms called his masterpiece “Ein duetsches Requiem” ("A German Requiem”) but it is often sung in the language of the country where it is performed. Brahms often discussed this dilemma and each time he recommended the choir should use the language that would be understood by the listener. He said it was his “human Requiem” and not exclusively German. As you listen and read the texts it is easy to see that this is so. In the score we are using the text is printed in German, English and French to reenforce the universality of the piece. Also, Brahms intentionally does not use Latin, even though he was encouraged to submit a Latin text to fit the music. The words of the Requiem, like Handel’s “Messiah” are taken from the Bible using words of comfort from both the New and Old Testament. Words of solace and deep universal faith come from Hebrews, Revelations, Matthew, Psalms, Isaiah and other books in random order. The seven sections of the Requiem takes a little over an hour to perform but the music will linger for days! In order to better acquaint our listeners there will be a pre-concert talk an hour before curtain time. Also featured on the program will be piano solos played by Martin Majkut, Conductor/Artistic Director of the Rogue Valley Symphony. He has selected pieces that reflect some of the thoughtfulness of the Requiem and prepare the audience for the wonderful experience. Lynn Sjolund, Conductor/Artistic Director Rogue Valley Chorale

To purchase tickets contact The Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater Box Office or call 541-779-3000. Rogue Valley Chorale Association 724 S Central, Suite 102 Medford, OR 97501 info@roguevalleychorale.org Copyright © 2009 Rogue Valley Chorale