We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 October 2020
The German text appears here as it was published in the first edition of the full score (Leipzig and Winterthur: J. Rieter-Biedermann, 1868). To give a sense of Brahms's fidelity to scripture with only minor changes to the text, differences are indicated between the Requiem text and as it appears in Brahms's 1833 Bible, discussed above. Although it does not seem to be the sole version of the Bible Brahms consulted in compiling the Requiem text, it was especially dear to his heart. Portions of the Requiem not in the 1833 Bible appear below in brackets; words that appear in the Bible but not in the Requiem are struck through. Variations in orthography and punctuation are generally not indicated. Verse numbers for Psalms 39 and 84 follow those of English translations; Luther numbers the Psalm headings as verse 1.
I have attempted a literal translation from the German while also drawing on traditional word choices common to standard English versions. Brahms’s 1833 Bible does not use all uppercase letters for “Herr” to indicate the use of “YHWH” in the Hebrew, a practice of many earlier as well as modern Bibles, but I have used “LORD” in the translation to designate its presence in the original biblical text.
German Text English Translation
Movement I
Matthew 5:4
Selig sind, die da Leid tragen, denn sie Blessed are those who mourn, for they
shall be comforted
sollen getröstet we
Psalm 126:5–6 Those who sow with tears shall reap
with joy. They go forth and weep and
carry precious seeds, and come with
joy and bring their sheaves.
Die mit Thränen säen, werden mit
Freuden ernten. Sie gehen hin und
weinen und tragen edlen Samen, und
kommen mit Freuden und bringen
ihre Garben
Movement II
1 Peter 1:24
Denn alles Fleisch [es] ist wie Gras
und alle Herrlichkeit des Menschen
wie des Grases Blumen. Das Gras ist
verdorret und die Blume abgefallen.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
