8021 How Lovely is thy Dwelling Place

Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897)

arranged by Roger Harvey for 8-piece brass ensemble

(This version can also be used as an accompaniment for a choral performance)

Difficulty: Medium

Price: £22.50

Programme note:
Brahms had a long preoccupation with the idea of composing a Requiem, but only in 1866, when he was 33, did he begin serious work on it, completing it, with the exception of the fifth movement which was added later, the following year. In its incomplete form Ein Deutsches Requiem was first heard in Bremen Cathedral on Good Friday 1868. The final version was performed the following year at Leipzig’s famous concert-hall, the Gewandhaus.
 
It is thought that the Requiem may have been written either in memory of his mother, who died in 1856 or Robert Schumann, whose madness and tragic death had profoundly affected the young Brahms though the composer himself gave no indication.
The text of the work is designed to be religious but definitely non-liturgical, so much so that the title of “Requiem” can be considered inappropriate. Brahms stated the intention to write a piece to comfort the living rather than one for the souls of the dead. The work focuses on faith in the Resurrection rather than fear of the Day of Judgement.
‘How Lovely is thy Dwelling Place’, the 4th of 7 movements, is gently lyrical, providing at the heart of the work a meditative, restful interlude, framed by the solemnity of the outer movements.

How lovely is thy dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, yea, even faints
for the courts of the Lord:
my heart and my flesh cries out
for the living God.
Blessed are they that dwell in thy house:
they will always be praising thee. Psalm 84:1,2,4

Performance note:
Trumpet one is best on an E flat trumpet.
Trumpet 3 is a flugel part.
The style should be cantabile almost throughout. Avoid any hint of brassyness or strained playing, especially in the higher register. Differentiated dynamics are provided to help ensure good balance between the lead lines and accompaniment.
Some music is for textural colour and should be barely discernable:
- syncopated passages, marked with tenuto lines, should by gently pulsed to give some rhythmic feel but not accented.
- staccato arpeggios should be quiet and clearly but very lightly articulated
- slurred arpeggios should be very gently played