Katzen Arts Center
Friday April 27 8 p.m.
Saturday April 28 8 p.m.
Sunday April 29 3 p.m.
After the attempted suicide of one of his close friends, Johannes Brahms began an 11-year journey to create a requiem for the bereft and for those left behind. The American University chorus and symphony orchestra performed together this weekend to create a moving rendition of Brahms' masterpiece. The show was equally soothing and furious, as it attempted to sort through the grief that accompanies death.
There was no moment during the entire seven-movement "Ein deutsches Requiem" in which any section from the orchestra or chorus overpowered the others; rather, every part was perfectly interwoven to create a sound of equal quality to anything at the Kennedy Center.
The second movement was the most emotionally gripping with its fluctuations of the chorus gently floating behind the sounds of the woodwinds to their sudden bursts of anguish, beautifully upheld by the orchestra.
James Shaffran, guest Grammy-award winning baritone, began the third movement by sharply singing every word of reflection. At times he even bit the ends off the solemn words, in keeping with the theme of Brahms' work. After all, grieving is always accompanied by alternating sorrow and anger.
The soprano soloist, Laura Lewis, also stays with Brahms' theme by forcefully singing words of hope in the fifth movement while visually expressing grief with her movements and face during the performance.
During the fourth movement, the orchestra took command of the stage. This movement is filled with crescendos packed with rage, only to decrescendo into peaceful understanding. The violinists carefully navigated between the two conflicting sides, fueling the anger only to dissipate it. Though there were 17 violinists who successfully produced a single voice throughout.
By the end of the seventh movement, the audience finds peace, and the anger subsides. They are left with softened voices from the chorus and a hushed orchestra.
Brahms debuted this work, though incomplete, in Vienna in 1867 and it met with failure. Requiems (originally requi?s, Latin for rest) are usually given in Latin during Roman Catholic services for the dead. However, Brahms chose German translations for biblical passages not generally used for requiems. Thus, his work was misunderstood until its official premiere, in its entirety, in 1869 in Leipzig, Germany. This time, his work was a success. It soon became considered a masterpiece and one of Brahms' greatest achievements.
At $15 per person ($5 per student), cost may have turned some people away from this performance. That is a shame, however, because those people would have missed a great opportunity to see the AU chorus and orchestra at their finest.
