A German Requiem (Brahms) A German Requiem (Brahms) A German Requiem, to Words of the Holy Scriptures, Op. 45 () by Johannes Brahms, is a large-scale work for chorus, orchestra, a soprano and a baritone soloist, composed between 1865 and 1868. It comprises seven movements, which together last 65 to 80 minutes, making this work Brahms's longest composition. "A German Requiem" is sacred but non-liturgical, and unlike a long tradition of the Latin "Requiem", "A German Requiem", as its title states, is a "Requiem" in the German language. Brahms's mother died in February 1865, a loss that caused him much grief and may well
A German Requiem (Brahms) sung in English, for the first complete British performance of the Requiem (complete except for the fifth movement, which in 1866 had not yet been written). This took place on 10 July 1871 in London, at the home of Sir Henry Thompson and his wife, the pianist Kate Loder (Lady Thompson). The pianists were Kate Loder and Cipriani Potter. This version of the Requiem became known as the "London Version" (). An arrangement by Barbara Buehlman for concert band of the first movement, under the title "Blessed Are They", has been a standard part of that ensemble's literature for many