Brahms, a German Requiem

The Wykeham Consort perform Brahms' profound German Requiem, offering a fresh interpretation of Brahms' brilliant writing in the beautiful acoustics of Magdalen College Chapel.

Brahms' music is complemented by a reading of 'A German Requiem' by contemporary poet James Fenton.Brahms wrote his Requiem to offer consolation, not least to himself in light of the deaths of Robert Schumann and his mother.

But the music is expressive of more: it exhibits great dynamism as much as of comfort.

His treatment of texts from the Lutheran Bible projected an individual musical identity for the young composer.

Brahms' musical character is brought to life by this performance by the excellent singers of the Wykeham Consort, with pianists Hugh Rowlands and Joseph Hyam emphasising the characteristics of Brahms' very individual setting of the Requiem.

Magdalen College Chapel offers a perfect setting for this new interpretation of Brahms' masterpiece: at once consoling and energetic.

The poetry of James Fenton offers a new experience of this wonderful music.

Fenton's verse locates Brahms' 'German Requiem' in the intellectual history of that country and its troubled first century.