In many discussions of Ein deutsches Requiem, the supposition for the interpretation is rarely delineated. Perhaps the writer assumes the reader will share the same strategies for scrutinizing the piece, or the amount of space needed to expound on the analytical procedure is simply unavailable. Because my view of the work is so uncommon, it is vital that every step of my reasoning process be articulated. Since readers and listeners with diverse practices for establishing a reading of a work will likely arrive at varied conclusions, explicitly stating one's premises can make scholarly conversations more profitable.

This opening chapter, then, attempts to demarcate the rationale for my evaluation of the Requiem's text. I access a variety of literary theories and examine other scholars’ methodologies concerning the work, suggesting where they seem to go awry or employ inconsistent tactics. I also explore Brahms's approach to some of his other choral works and the responses of early audiences and critics as well as modern scholars, who seem to apply a different set of principles to the Requiem. The biblical knowledge of those who heard the Requiem in its early performances will also be taken into account. Finally, a first look at Brahms's selection of biblical texts explains how it provides interpretive clues for listeners. Altogether, this survey will support the logic for using the biblical context of the Requiem's text as an elemental factor in understanding the work.

Authorial Intent

One possible rationalization for the seemingly undisputed view of the Requiem's so-called universality of religious expression is that most current scholars have endeavored to determine what the text meant to Brahms and, as a corollary, what it should therefore mean to us today. This tack is understandable for studying the music of Brahms, who, like most composers, carefully chose texts that resonated with him for a particular, if not always discernible, reason. Indeed, intriguing connections between Brahms's texts and his personal life have been revealed—what Carol Hess has called “autobiographical allusion” and John Daverio “autobiographical overtones”—in such works as Rinaldo (1863–68), the Alto Rhapsody (1869), and the Schicksalslied (1868–71), all completed shortly after the Requiem.