Over the past few weeks we have spent a lot of time on No 6 in A German Requiem, and last night’s rehearsal included a final polish of the piece.   I had noticed some familiar words in the English translation: Behold, I tell you a mystery.  Isn’t that from Handel’s Messiah?  I read on: We shall not all sleep but we shall be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. Yes, checking in my score of Messiah, those are the words of the bass recitative introducing The trumpet shall sound.   This might be worthy of more investigation.

Handel wrote Messiah reputedly over the space of twenty-four days in 1742, and Brahms wrote A German Requiem over several years leading up to 1869.  There is only 120 years separating the composition of these two remarkable works.  But the treatment of the words in common between the two works is so different.

Handel sets the words above for bass soloist in pure recitative, whereas Brahms  involves the choir and orchestra, adding colour and a little drama.

Then there comes a big difference.  Handel sets The trumpet shall sound and the dead be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed for the bass soloist and a wonderful trumpet accompaniment in the orchestra.  The duet between the two is clear and triumphal.  Brahms on the other hand sets the words for the full choir with a powerful orchestral accompaniment which is not only triumphal but also much more dramatic.  The music is not just beautiful – it demands to be listened to and taken notice of.

And then comes the biggest contrast.  O death, where is thy sting?  O grave, where is thy victory?  In Messiah, this is a charming duet for Alto and Tenor soloists, which is most often omitted in performance due to time pressures.  You cannot possibly omit this section in A German Requiem.  There is an added line of text: Death is swallowed up in victory.  The Choir is forceful, challenging death and the grave to prove their victory whilst knowing that they cannot do so. Last night, Carlos described the character of this music as angry:  I like to think of it as aggressively assertive to the point where no-one would dare to argue.

Two settings of the same words, 120 years apart.  Each setting is wonderful, but what a contrast between them!  And how fortunate we are to have them both to hear and to sing.