Two thirds of our students decided to attend
Ein Deutsches Requiem by Brahms performed by the Yale Schola Cantorum - and were not disappointed. Within the sacred space of St. Joseph Church in New Yaven, we witnessed a fascinating performance featuring the arrangment for chamber ensemble by Iain Farrington.
The crystalline texture of the instrumental parts, with the unusual including of a piano part taken from Brahms' own arrangement of the work for four hands, blended perfectly with the stellar performance of the choir and soloists.
Brahms' words of comfort for the living and hope for the dying were fittingly presented during this month of November and invited the audience to reflect on life and death, true existential human realities, which become transformed by the faith in Christ, the Redeemer. This message resounds all the stronger in our souls if it is supported by such an masterful rendition of one of the greatest compositions within the German Romantic period.