Brahms' Requiem in piano version

These are difficult times for choirs and it is important not to lose hope. One way out of the crisis is offered by reduced versions of masterpieces that focus on the often problematic balance between choir and orchestra and at the same time place the choir back at the center as the bearer of the "message".

The German Requiem by Johannes Brahms occupies a leading position among the masterpieces of the oratorio repertoire together with Bach's Passions and the Mozart Requiem. Brahms' orchestration, however, relies on a choir of 200 singers as its tonal counterpart. In most performances, the large orchestra and smaller choir result in a clear imbalance. In recent years, several arrangements for chamber ensembles have been created (e.g. Ian Farrington's version for 7 instruments and choir by Aria Editions or Joachim Linckelmann's version for reduced orchestra by Carus-Verlag).

However, the so-called historical "London version", which was performed for the first time in the UK in 1871 with soloists, choir and piano for four hands, is also interesting. Based on this, the German composer Heinrich Poos created a version for soloists, choir, two pianos and timpani as early as 1978, which was previously only available in a manuscript edition. The publishing house Breitkopf & Härtel has now published this excellent version on the occasion of the publication of the original German Requiem based on the Urtext of the new Brahms Complete Edition as a modern transcription. A really highly recommendable and exemplary edition which can be used in conjunction with the existing piano reductions and will find much favor in practice.

Johannes Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem, for soloists, choir, two pianos and timpani arranged by Heinrich Poos, score with timpani part, PB 5697, € 79.00, Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden