Oratorienchor Köln

Johannes Brahms was considered a rather serious, even somewhat solitary composer, while Franz von Suppè is primarily associated with light entertainment, as he is regarded as the creator of the Viennese operetta. In this concert, the Oratorienchor Köln focuses on a lesser-known side of the composer.

Franz von Suppè's  »Requiem« is nothing more than a footnote in music history – and yet it is an astonishing work that demonstrates the contrapuntal artistry of its creator, who, incidentally, had the same composition teacher as Anton Bruckner and Franz Schubert. The trombones impressively herald the Last Judgement, and here the composer is audibly inspired by Mozart's  »Requiem«. With its operatic features, it also foreshadows Verdi's Requiem, composed 20 years later, while Brahms' Schicksalslied (Song of Destiny) was written following his successful Deutsches Requiem (German Requiem).