Johannes Brahms - 5 Partsongs (GESÄNGE) for mixed chorus, Op. 104 (1888)

Johannes Brahms (7 May 1833 - 3 April 1897) was a German composer and pianist of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria. His reputation and status as a composer are such that he is sometimes grouped with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven as one of the "Three Bs" of music, a comment originally made by the nineteenth-century conductor Hans von Bülow.
Five Partsongs for mixed chorus, Op. 104 (1886-88 ca.)
1. Nachtwache I Langsam (B minor)
2. Nachtwache II Feierlich bewegt (E♭ major)
Friedrich Rückert (1788-1866) (2:47)
3. Letztes Glück. Ziemlich langsam (F minor)
Max Kalbeck (1850-1921) (3:48)
4. Verlorene Jugend. Lebhaft, doch nicht zu schnell (D minor)
Josef Wenzig (1807-1876) (6:06)
5. Im Herbst. Andante (C minor)
Klaus Groth (1819-1899) (7:54)
Kansas-City Chorale conducted by Charles Bruffy
Brahms’s last set of secular songs for a cappella mixed chorus bears all the marks of the late style. The previous set, Op. 93a, displayed some of these aspects, but the songs of Op. 104 (the stern canon of Op. 93a, No. 6 notwithstanding) are more austere, more concise, and certainly more “autumnal” in character. Indeed, the title of the last song, “Im Herbst,” (“In Autumn”) is an apt metaphor for the entire set. Except for the fourth song, the folk idiom is abandoned here, and even that text, which deals with lost youth, has an aura of resignation and regret that fits well with the subjects of the other songs. Rückert and Groth were certainly poets who were known for their more severe styles. Musically, the set is characterized by antiphonal writing, where groups of voices (usually women and men) are set in opposition to each other. The six-voice texture of the first three songs helps to facilitate this sort of writing, most notably in the first Rückert song, which is entirely built upon this antiphonal concept. While the second Rückert setting (No. 2) is brighter than the first, its rather archaic call-and-response conceit is just as austere. No. 3 brings the antiphonal exchanges even closer together, balancing them with a highly contrasting, much warmer middle section. No. 4 uses an overlapping call-and-response technique to great effect. It is in five, rather than six voices. The major-key contrasting verses exude a resigned sadness. The last song, “Im Herbst,” is often cited as Brahms’s greatest secular part song. Using only the traditional four voices, he constructed a piece of both deep melancholy and bright hope, using colorful harmonies that are perfectly placed and never overused. The motion to major in the third stanza is a cappella choral writing at its absolute finest. This masterpiece stands at the end of Brahms’s great contribution to secular choral song.

[@amvalkyrie6496]

The last one is really nice

[@NateSassoonMusic]

These pieces are absolutely gorgeous

[@whateverfin]

wow

[@user-qe8hw7in9v]

die tone der brust lol

[@CatOfTheCannals]

3:51 letztes glück

[@mrp8811]

do you have score music sheets?