When I was a young adult, I was part of a choir, the William Locke Singers, that sang Johannes Brahms’ A German Requiem. We were told that this is a Protestant Requiem, and is all about hope.
We sang it in English, and indeed the text is entirely taken from the Bible – verses full of hope and about the beauty of heaven and about comfort.
Some time before we performed the Requiem, a college friend died in a freak accident. This requiem – and singing those words over and over again – comforted me.
I often play the Requiem over and sing along at Easter when I’m thinking about Resurrection.
This year, today I’m attending a memorial service for an elder of our church who died after a long battle with cancer. He was only a little older than me, and leaves a wife and two adult kids – and a grieving church.
So – today not only am I listening to this wonderful requiem, I’m going to type out all the verses in the text.
Now, in the music form, this is extremely, extremely repetitive. So learning this piece gets you thinking about these things and repeating them in beautiful music over and over and over again. The words are beautiful – but singing them in this incredible piece of art puts them right into your heart.
I.
Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall have comfort.They that sow, that sow in tears, shall reap, shall reap in joy.
Who goeth forth and weepeth, and beareth precious seed,
shall doubtless return with rejoicing, and bring his sheaves with him.Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall have comfort.
II.
Behold, all flesh is as the grass, and all the goodliness of man is as the flower of grass;
For lo, the grass with’reth, and the flower thereof decayeth.Now therefore, be patient, O my brethren, unto the coming of Christ.
See how the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit, the precious fruit of the earth,
and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early rain and the latter rain.
So be ye patient.Behold, all flesh is as the grass, and all the goodliness of man is as the flower of grass.
For lo, the grass with’reth, and the flower thereof decayeth.But yet the Lord’s word endureth, endureth for evermore.
The redeemed of the Lord shall return again, and come rejoicing unto Zion;
Joy everlasting upon their heads shall be.
Joy and gladness, these shall be their portion,
and tears and sighing shall flee from them.The redeemed of the Lord shall return again, and come rejoicing unto Zion;
Joy everlasting, joy upon their heads shall be.
Joy everlasting.III.
Lord, make me to know the measure of my days on earth, to consider my frailty,
that I must perish.
Surely, all my days here are as an handbreadth to Thee,
and my lifetime is as naught to Thee.Verily, mankind walketh in a vain show, and their best state is altogether vanity.
Man passeth away like a shadow, he is disquieted in vain,
he heapeth up riches, and cannot tell who shall gather them.Now, Lord, O, what do I wait for?
My hope is in Thee, my hope is in Thee.
But the righteous souls are in the hand of God, nor pain nor grief shall nigh them come.
IV.
How lovely is Thy dwellingplace, O Lord of Hosts, O Lord of Hosts!
For my soul, it longeth, yea, fainteth for the courts of the Lord;
my soul and body crieth out, yea, for the living God.How lovely is Thy dwellingplace, O Lord of Hosts, O Lord of Hosts!
Blest are they, O blest are they that dwell within Thy house;
they praise Thy name evermore, they praise Thee for evermore!How lovely is Thy dwellingplace.
V.
Ye now are sorrowful,
howbeit, ye shall again behold me, and your heart shall be joyful.Yea, I will comfort you, as one whom his own mother comforteth.
Look upon me; ye know that for a little time labour and sorrow were mine,
but at the last I have found comfort.Yea, I will comfort, will comfort you.
Ye now are sorrowful;
howbeit, ye shall again behold me, and your heart shall be joyful.Yea, I will comfort you, as one whom his own mother comforteth.
VI.
Here on earth have we no continuing place,
howbeit, we seek one to come.Lo, I unfold unto you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep when He cometh,
but we shall all be changed,
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the sound of the trumpet.For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,
and we shall be changed.Then, then, what of old was written, the same shall be brought to pass.
For death shall be swallowed in victory, yea, in victory!
Grave, where is thy triumph?
Death, O where is thy sting?Worthy art Thou to be praised, Lord of honour and might,
for Thou hast earth and heaven created,
and for Thy good pleasure all things have their being, and were created.VII.
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth.Saith the spirit, that they rest from their labours,
and that their works follow after them.Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth.
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.
Amen.
I looked for a youtube video of Brahms’ Requiem sung in English, and found this playlist, which should take you through all the movements.