In the third movement of Brahms's Ein Deutsches Requiem, the baritone soloist expresses the feelings of an individual human being. He contemplates his life and mortality. “Lord, teach me what this is all about. What meaning does my life have? My life has a finite length. How shall I spend it?” Brahms depicts this sentiment in a nebulous world: the key center of the movement is not given definitely until the sixteenth measure and is obscured regularly; and there are conflicting rhythms, twos against threes, and music that comes on off beats. The chorus sings with pent-up intensity which lashes forth unexpectedly. After a particularly intense outburst, the music subsides. The baritone continues, contemplating the wasteful, worthless pursuits of human beings. The chorus can hardly wait to express similar sentiments. Finally, they are completely exasperated as they sing, “Now, Lord, who shall comfort me!” Where will I turn? - this in the troubled, unsettled harmony of diminished chords. Then Brahms places us in a new world. The answer is given: “My hope is in you.” He sets the music in the major dominant key of A as the “hope” rises gently, voice after voice in great inspiration. This leads directly to the final fugue section of the movement, “The souls of the righteous are in God’s hands and no torment will touch them.” This amazing and greatly developed section goes through many passages with different feelings and colors and harmonies. But the entire section is built on a low D pedal point. The rock-solid low D in the instrumental part never leaves, just as the ultimate joy of the loved ones is never in doubt. – Dennis Keene

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JOHANNES BRAHMS Ein Deutsches Requiem - Movement 3

Voices of Ascension
Dennis Keene, Artistic Director
Arlene Shrut & Anna Shelest, Pianists
Richard Zeller, Baritone

Recorded live in performance on January 30, 2014 at Church of the Ascension
The singers in this performance are represented by the American Guild of Musical Artists, AFL-CIO.