Requiem

Three key works of the requiem literature are combined in this box set: Brahms’s German Requiem, Op. 45, Mozart’s Requiem, K. 626, and the Requiem in C minor by Luigi Cherubini. Frieder Bernius conducts the Stuttgart Chamber Choir, the Hofkapelle Stuttgart and the Stuttgart Baroque Orchestra. The soloists are sopranos Julia Borchert and Vasiljka Jezovšek, alto Claudia Schubert, tenor Marcus Ullmann and bass Michael Volle.

Johannes Brahms’s German Requiem, Op. 45, is one of the most beloved and frequently performed works in the history of choral symphonic music. Here Brahms successfully created an interdenominational piece of funeral music in which the choir takes center stage as the voice of the community.

Mozart’s final work, the Requiem, K. 626, which was unfinished at the time of his death, is performed here in the version prepared by Franz Beyer in 1981. While Beyer largely retained Franz Xaver Süßmayr’s additions, he significantly improved the orchestration of the final sections.

The Requiem in C minor by Luigi Cherubini quickly became popular with contemporary audiences. Brahms and Schumann were great admirers of the work, which was even played at Beethoven’s funeral service. Dispensing with solo singers, Cherubini aimed to achieve an inwardness of expression closely rooted in the text.