ALC 0051 Brahms

It is difficult to understand until the end such a complex composition as Op. 122, which, even if it presents itself under a very precise guise, that of the traditional prelude-choral, perhaps contradicts itself because of the language used, often of a completely different kind. When a performer is faced with this music, the temptation to treat it in the Baroque manner can be strong. Of the prelude-choral form, in fact, there would be everything: the cantus firmus, the figured, the bass. It is easy to argue that since Brahms was inspired by Bach, it is obligatory to perform the Eleven Chorales in the same style as Bach's Orgelbüchlein. Too easy. It is enough to examine them a little more carefully to realize that in them we find the Intermezzos, the Lieder and many of those stylistic elements that constitute the essence of Brahms' thought, while recognizing that we are dealing with a tired man who, at the end of a long life, turns to God, desiring a peaceful death and for this reason adopts, in his last prayer, the contrapuntal language as the supreme form of estrangement from earthly passions. It is not a dramatic farewell to life: except for a few brief cues full of excruciating pain, the music flows serenely, giving us the idea - in accordance with the lyrics - of a quiet resignation, of a great awareness.