While the Lieder composed by Johannes Brahms did not achieve the type of acceptance as those by Schubert, Brahms was still able to give us many songs that have lasted and been enjoyed for so many years.
My post today is about Brahms’ Vier ernste Gesange. We get to listen to the following songs:
Brahms:
Lieder und Gesänge (9), Op. 32
Sommerabend, Op. 85 No. 1
Mondenschein, Op. 85 No. 2
Der Tod, das ist die kühle Nacht, Op. 96 No. 1
Es schauen die Blumen, Op. 96 No. 3
Meerfahrt, Op. 96 No. 4
Vier ernste Gesänge, Op. 121
Performed by Matthias Goerne (baritone) and Christoph Eschenbach (piano)
Brahms wrote a large number of lieder over a period of 40 years. The 200 or so he permitted to survive show just how important the genre was to his compositional process.
The selection on this CD illustrates the diversity that features the poet Heinrich Heine (as with so many other composers), but also a wide variety of other poets whom he set to music with the same consummate skill.
Here is Matthias Goerne, singing “Liederkreis”, Op. 39
