Moving from Johannes Brahms to Irving Berlin

My chorus recently completed a memorable performance of A German Requiem by Johannes Brahms.  An amazing 125 voice chorus, two exceptional vocal soloists, and an excellent 43 piece orchestra (comprised primarily of members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra) combined in performing one of the greatest musical compositions ever created.  So, one might say, where do we go from there?  Since The Michael O’Neal Singers is an ensemble which prides itself on performing a wide repertoire, perhaps it should not come as a surprise that we transitioned rather smoothly the next week into rehearsals of music from “The Great American Songbook,” otherwise known as popular or jazz standards, especially from the decades of the 30s, 40s. and 50s.

So, after weeks of concentrating on the sublime and challenging qualities of Brahms, we now find ourselves immersed in the songs of Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Johnny Mercer, Richard Rodgers and others.  While I enjoy the change of pace this music offers, I do think it is important to approach these composers with a serious appreciation and respect for what they have added to the American musical landscape.  Popular music can touch lives in profound ways and it is the insensitive serious musician who fails to recognize that fact.  Therefore, it is my hope that our May 13 performance of Ballads, Blues, and Broadway will remind us of music’s enormous capacity to enrich lives.

The Brahms Requiem “Experience”

For those of us involved in the recent preparation and performance of A German Requiem by Johannes Brahms, I think it is safe to say it was a remarkable experience. If for no other reason, just immersing ourselves for two months in something of such “greatness” is bound to have a positive effect.

I’m always gratified when I hear stories of how music has touched lives, and I know there must be some interesting stories from the people who just took part in this Brahms Requiem. Of course, I don’t want to restrict the comments only to people who performed this performance; I’d also like to hear any Brahms Requiem “experiences” you may have. I have been involved with this masterpiece, in one way or another, for nearly forty years, and I always discover something new and meaningful in it upon each visit.

I’ll get you started with a couple of stories. One orchestra member told me the anticipation of this performance held great significance to her because her mother died just three weeks ago, and she had been looking forward to the opportunity to play this great music as a tribute to her. One singer explained to me that he had been going through some difficult personal times recently, and the rehearsal and preparation of the Requiem had provided support and consolation that had been available no where else.

Do you have a Brahms Requiem experience you’d be willing to share?

Community and the Brahms “Requiem”

Community is one of our major “buzzwords” these days.   Facebook and Twitter have become an important part of the lives of many people, and some persons may even consider them to be essential to a happy existence!  While many of us can remember living happy and fulfilled lives prior to the creation of “social media” there is no doubt that “connecting” through these electronic methods has become part of our society.   David Brooks, the excellent columnist of  The New York Times, has even written a new book entitled The Social Animal, which has its premise the human need for connection, friendship, and love.

As all of us in The Michael O’Neal Singers quickly approach our performance of A German Requiem by Johannes Brahms (Sunday, March 13), I am reminded of the importance of community in our group musical performances.  Our 130 voices, including two excellent soloists, will combine with a 44 member orchestra to “recreate” one of the greatest choral/orchestral pieces ever written.  It struck me in our chorus rehearsal last night that something very amazing takes place when many of us gather for a shared purpose (especially when that purpose is as meaningful as this music).  The text, personally selected by Brahms, is designed to comfort the living as opposed to offer a prayer for the dead.  The poignancy of the words, combined with the shear beauty of the music, has affected our chorus in a number of ways.  Most of our singers, in fact, will “dedicate” their performance to someone who has played an important role in their lives.

From time to time I remind my singers of the “Gestalt” of our music making, or the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.  What we could never accomplish as individuals we are able to do as a group of singers.  Now that’s what I call community!

Thanks for Singers

I’m feeling especially grateful these days for the people I have the opportunity to conduct in choruses on a weekly basis.  There is my community chorus of 130 voices, preparing  to perform A German Requiem by Johannes Brahms in little more than a week.  These singers are going to be presenting one of the most profound musical expressions ever created.  Then there is my church choir of 100 voices.  This group brings solace, comfort and beauty every Sunday to an appreciative congregation.  Finally, I have my senior adult choir of nearly 50 voices.  This wonderful group of singers (oldest is 92) reminds me that we are never too old to sing or to make a difference in the lives of others.  In appreciation for all my singers, as well as singers everywhere, I would like to share something written by Alan Jones, Dean of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. 

We give thanks for singers, all types of singers.  Popular singers, concert singers and tuneless singers in the band.  Whistlers and hummers, and those who sing while they work.  Singers of lullabies, singers of nonsense and small scraps of melody, singers on branches and rooftops.  Morning yodelers and evening warblers.

Singers in seedy nightclubs, singers in the street.  Singers in cathedrals, school halls and grandstands, backyards, meadows, bedrooms, corridors, stairwells and places of echo and resonance.  We give praise to all those who give some small voice to the everyday joy of the soul.

Brahms – A “Human” Requiem

A German Requiem by Johannes Brahms is one of the great masterpieces of choral/orchestral literature.  Composed to texts selected by the composer, A German Requiem is both a deeply personal statement by Brahms, as well as an offering of consolation and comfort to the living.  The name A German Requiem (Ein deutches Requiem) was never the first choice of the composer, who actually preferred ‘Human’ Requiem.  However, the fact that he used a text chosen from Martin Luther’s German translation of the Bible instead of the traditional Latin text of the Roman Catholic liturgy became an important characteristic of the work.

Two deaths are considered to have had considerable influence on Brahms in the writing of his Requiem.  The first was the death of his dear friend and mentor, composer Robert Schumann, in 1856.  It is widely assumed that the death of his mother in 1865 eventually led Brahms to add a seventh movement to what had been premiered in 1868 as a six movement work.  This additional movement incorporates a moving soprano solo, probably memorializing his mother, and is placed as movement five in the now seven movement composition, premiered in 1869.

After completion of his monumental masterpiece—by far the largest work he ever composed—Brahms eloquently expressed his deep satisfaction:  “Now I am consoled.  I have surmounted obstacles that I thought I would never overcome and I feel like an eagle, soaring ever higher and higher.”  His Requiem has provided similar consolation for countless performers and listeners in the nearly century and a half of its existence.   What a gift to all humanity is this masterpiece by Johannes Brahms.

A Requiem for Our Time

The Michael O’Neal Singers last performed the Brahms Requiem in October of 2001, just one month after the tragedy of September 11, 2001.  Little did we know when we began rehearsals on September 10 that this amazing offering to humankind from Johannes Brahms would become such a source of personal healing and comfort  for us during the somber days and weeks that followed.   Almost ten years later, we are about to begin rehearsals again on this masterpiece, in preparation for a March 13 performance.  The troubled world in which we live today needs the message of consolation offered by this wondrous creation no less than it did ten years ago, or in fact in any year since it was composed.  Below are the comments I made to the audience that afternoon in October 2001 prior to our performance.

A year ago, when The Michael O’Neal Singers decided to perform A German Requiem by Johannes Brahms as the first concert of our 2001-2002 Season, we had no idea that our world would change on September 11, 2001.  But change it did, and all our lives have been affected.   Some of you have been affected directly, most of us indirectly, but each of us has been changed – ‘”in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” – forever changed.

The piece we are about to perform was written with an understanding that we live but a short time on this earth, and we grieve for those who leave this life before us.  Brahms knew the sorrow experienced by those who grieve and he selected texts that provide comfort to the living in their time of loss.  We have learned that often the individual grief we feel is more completely “worked through” in a community, and especially in the collective grief we are now experiencing as a nation, it is imperative that we encounter it in community.  Perhaps that is one of the greatest gifts of music; especially live performance of music that is profound in its depth and meaning, for we experience it in community – a community of performers – a community of listeners – and a combined community of people this day, who mourn and remember.

The Brahms Requiem offers us a chance to grieve together.  I encourage you to follow the text printed in your program, to hold your applause until the end of the final movement, and to accept this musical offering as a tribute to the memory of those who lost their lives on September 11 (in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania).  May this music, and the words that accompany it, provide encouragement to us as we hope for, and seek, an eventual and lasting peace in this world.