(Continued)
BRAHMS here uses the title Requiem not for a setting of the Mass for the Dead, but as descriptive of a work consisting of seven Movements, each a setting of passages from the German Bible. It was written as a memorial to the composer's mother.
1. Blessed are they that mourn.'
2. ' Behold all flesh is as the grass.' This has the character of a massive Funeral March. The middle part is an outburst of joyful anticipation.
3. Lord, make me to know the measure of my days.' The first part of this is a Baritone Solo.
4. ' How lovely is thy dwelling place.'
5. 'Ye now are sorrowful : howbeit ye shall again behold Me.' This movement, a delicate, ethereal Soprano Solo, was written after the rest of the Requiem had already had its first performance.
6. ' Here on earth we have no continuing place.' This is a dramatic movement, divided between the Baritone Soloist and the Chorus.
7. ' Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.'
Brahms follows tradition in closing his Requiem with a subdued serene movement.