A German Requiem (Brahms) humanism persists through the work. Brahms purposely omitted Christian dogma. In his correspondence with Carl Reinthaler, when Reinthaler expressed concern over this, Brahms refused to add references to "the redeeming death of the Lord", as Reinthaler described it, such as . In the Bremen performance of the piece, Reinthaler took the liberty of inserting the aria "I know that my Redeemer liveth" from Handel's "Messiah" to satisfy the clergy. In addition to soprano and baritone soloists and mixed chorus, "A German Requiem" is scored for: Since Brahms inserted the fifth movement, the work shows symmetry around the fourth movement, which
Requiem (Reger) When the greatest anxiety ...). Reger completes the chorale setting for the chorus, without further reference to the chorale melody, while the solo voice repeats at the same time "", concluding with descending tones of more than an octave. The "Requiem" employs an orchestra of two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, cor anglais, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, three percussionists and strings. It requires a chorus to match. Reger himself wrote a version for piano. To make the music more accessible, the composer and organist Max Beckschäfer arranged the work for voice, chorus and organ