Rundfunkchor Berlin – Brahms (2019) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz]

Rundfunkchor Berlin – Brahms (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 52:59 minutes | 517 MB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sony Classical

Here’s a remarkable recording showcasing a little known aspect of Brahms’ genius: his sacred choral music. As a choirmaster in Detmold, Hamburg and Vienna, he left behind an enormous amount of choral works, both sacred and secular. Composed based on extracts from Hölderlin’s famous epistolary novel Hyperion, the Song of Destiny (Schicksalslied) opens this splendid album with an atmosphere reminiscent of A German Requiem. The first two verses picked by Brahms invoke the carefree and peaceful world of Ancient Gods, while the third ends with a dramatic illustration of human destiny. This contrast is a recurring theme throughout Brahms’ literary choices, and makes up the backbone of this recording.

Conducted with great suppleness and inwardness by Gijs Leenaars, the works featured in this great album evoke Ancient Greece, a leitmotiv of German romanticism, as well as a form of angst towards life, with unanswered existential questions regarding suffering and pain inflicted by an all-powerful God. This programme alternates between works for a cappella choirs (the excellent Berlin Radio Choir showing an exceptional range of nuances) and others intended for orchestras (Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin). – François Hudry

Tracklist:
1. Rundfunkchor Berlin – I. Langsam und sehnsuchtsvoll (07:41)
2. Rundfunkchor Berlin – II. Allegro (04:56)
3. Rundfunkchor Berlin – III. Adagio (02:28)
4. Rundfunkchor Berlin – I. Warum (05:12)
5. Rundfunkchor Berlin – II. Lasset uns unser Herz (01:08)
6. Rundfunkchor Berlin – III. Siehe, wir preisen selig (02:15)
7. Rundfunkchor Berlin – IV. Mit Fried und Freud (01:09)
8. Rundfunkchor Berlin – Nänie, Op. 82 (11:11)
9. Rundfunkchor Berlin – I. Abendständchen (01:52)
10. Rundfunkchor Berlin – II. Vineta (02:38)
11. Rundfunkchor Berlin – III. Darthulas Grabesgesang (04:25)
12. Rundfunkchor Berlin – Es tönt ein voller Harfenklang, Op. 17 No. 1 (03:23)
13. Rundfunkchor Berlin – Geistliches Lied, Op. 30 (Arr. for Choir and String Orchestra) (04:35)

Personnel:
Rundfunkchor Berlin
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchestra
Gijs Leenaars, Dirigent

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