Philippe Herreweghe & Collegium Vocale Gent: Brahms – Ein deutsches Requiem

Johannes Brahms bypassed traditional Latin liturgical texts to assemble his own German scriptures focused on comforting the living rather than mourning the dead. Philippe Herreweghe's recording with Collegium Vocale Gent and period-instrument Orchestre des Champs-Élysées avoids the turgid, muddy weight of mid-century orchestral accounts. Herreweghe keeps the choral textures lithe and articulated, allowing the fugal climaxes of the sixth movement to ring out with stunning rhythmic clarity and noble warmth.