UniversitätsChor: Johannes Brahms – A German Requiem

“Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” With these words from the Sermon on the Mount, Johannes Brahms introduces his German Requiem – a moving world of sound that is all about the human need for hope and comfort.

To mark its 75th anniversary, the UniversitätsChor choir of the Technical University of Munich under the direction of Anna Verena Egger will present Johannes Brahms’ A German Requiem together with Universitätsmusik Hamburg. With around 300 musicians on the stage, this is an opportunity to immerse yourself in this extraordinary requiem, which has captivated audiences ever since its creation in the 19th century, taking them on an emotive journey from hardship to hope.

The UniversitätsChor München

Founded in 1950 by Prof Wilhelm Gebhardt, the choir of Munich’s Technical University has been under the artistic direction of Anna Verena Egger since 2013. Comprising around 200 singers, it performs works from a wide variety of eras. One of Bavaria’s largest choirs, its repertoire covers rarely performed works and oratorios as well as demanding a cappella pieces and ranges from early to contemporary music. The choir reaches a wider audience with its regular concert tours and is a guest at events such as the 60 Years of Music European tour of the world-famous film score composer Ennio Morricone and the Cinema in Concert series with the Babelsberg Film Orchestra under the baton of Enrique Ugarte.

This semester, the focus is on a special collaboration: the 200 singers of the university choir perform together with 120 musicians from Universitätsmusik Hamburg, the orchestra of Hamburg University. Together, the two choirs and the orchestra are a sonic powerhouse that tuns Brahms’ A German Requiem into a very special experience.

A German Requiem: pain and grief, comfort and hope

The work was a decade in the making, with Brahms returning to it time and again. It is a musical narrative in seven movements that takes us from pain and grief to hope and comfort. Alternating between powerful and intimate passages, the music is borne by deep basses and radiant choirs that impressively translate the themes of transience and consolation into sound. Brahms succeeds in combining the worldly with a hope-filled outlook on eternity. “Ein deutsches Requiem” is regarded as a piece of musical legacy that speaks a universal truth and transcends the boundaries between church and concert hall. Its performance by the Munich UniversitätsChor and Universitätsmusik Hamburg render Brahms’ message of consolation, which addresses people from all walks of life, into a special experience – an opportunity to rediscover hope and inner peace in a world that is full of impermanence.