The Blanche Moyse Chorale will perform Brahms’ German Requiem Sunday, October 9, in a concert at Persons Auditorium at Potash Hill in Marlboro. The program also features Brahms’ Nänie, Op.82. Tickets for the 2 p.m. concert are $22 general admission ($25 at the door) and $10 for students.

The program also features Brahms’ Nänie, Op.82.

Composed between 1865 and 1868, Brahms’ German Requiem is one of the composer’s most beloved works. While the soaring melodies and rich harmonies of this masterwork had immediate appeal, it was the fact that Brahms wrote it in German, rather than the more traditional liturgical Latin text, that made the work truly accessible to the audiences of the time.

While originally scored for full orchestra and large choir, Brahms himself re-scored it several times for different sizes of orchestra and choir.  For this performance, the Blanche Moyse Chorale presents a more intimate version for choir and piano. Accompanying the Chorale will be pianist Claire Black, an active performer of classical music in solo and collaborative settings who has presented her programs throughout North America. Her deep interest in and commitment to chamber music synergize with her abundant experience, including many years of performance tours with the Cialde (piano) Quintet and with her cello-piano Elegua Duo.

The second piece on the program, Nanie, is Brahms’ setting of Friedrich Schiller’s poem of the same name to music for four-part chorus.  Brahms composed the piece in 1881, in memory of his deceased friend Anselm Feuerbach, as a lamentation on the inevitability of death.

The Chorale was founded in 1978 by Blanche Moyse as a chamber choir which focused primarily on the Church Cantatas and other choral works of J.S. Bach, and was showcased in the annual New England Bach Festival, as well as in other concert settings. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Mary Westbrook-Geha, the Chorale carries forward the skills, passion, and musicality inspired by Mme. Moyse while expanding on its beloved Bach background.  The Chorale now explores an ever-widening range of repertoire with a fresh commitment to the highest level of choral excellence, precision and beauty of tone.