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Brahms's Ein Deutsches Requiem: Dialectic And The Chromatic Middleground, Patrick Tuck

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem (1868) has been the focus of much scholarly research. The present study focuses specifically on the work’s dialectic: the presentation and resolution of a conflict between mortal suffering and eternal joy. It takes an Schenkerian approach to the tonal content of the piece, which provides a musical reflection of the human spiritual journey to the afterlife. It examines how Brahms brings his chosen texts to life with the aid of musical processes such as mixture, register transfer, coupling, covering lines, and contrasting textures. The present study will cite previous authors who have noted the opposing forces …