Nänie op. 82

Scoring: Coro SATB, 2 Fl, 2 Ob, 2 Clt, 2 Fg, 2 Cor, 3 Trb, Timp, Arpa ad lib., 2 Vl, Va, Vc, Cb

Brahms’ elegy Nänie op. 82, based on the poem by Friedrich von Schiller, was composed in 1880/81 following the death of the painter Anselm Feuerbach, whom Brahms greatly admired. In contrast with the poem, Brahms’ Nänie ends full of hope: after earthly decline, beauty can live on in art.

As in his Deutsches Requiem op. 45, in Nänie Brahms creates a musical connection between mourning and consolation in an incomparable way. Inspired by the model of classical Roman-Greek laments, the work adopts the classical verse form chosen by Schiller – surely alluding to Feuerbach’s classically-inspired art.

Scored for mixed chorus and orchestra, we are publishing the work in a modern Urtext edition. One or more harps can be used ad lib. The primary source is the first printed edition of 1881. The latest scholarly discoveries as well as practical requirements have been taken into consideration. Performance material is available on sale as well as a vocal score, based on Brahms’s original vocal score, but in a revised performing version.