HEINRICH VON HERZOGENBERG (1843-1900): Requiem for Chorus and Orchestra, Op. 72, Totenfeier for Soloists, Chorus, Orchestra and Organ, Op. 80, Begräbnisgesang for Tenor, Male Choir and Winds, Op. 88.

Description: Those familiar with the composer's life may think that this requiem is for his beloved wife but it actually predates her death by a year (1891) and is not tortured or deeply grief-stricken but rather a composed, dignified and lyrical setting of the Latin funeral mass. Of course it's Brahmsian; dare you ask? However, the Totenfeier, a 43-minute setting of ten mostly biblical texts, written in one week at the end of 1892, was designed as a memorial to her at the end of his formal year of mourning and is a much more emotional work, charting the expected course from anger and denial to acceptance and renewed faith in God.  The five-minute "Funeral Song" was written after the death of Herzogenberg's close friend and Bach biographer Philipp Spitta in 1894. 2 CDs. German, Latin-English texts. Franziska Bobe (soprano), Barbara Bräckelmann (alto), Maximilian Argmann (tenor), Jens Hamann (bass), Würzburg Monteverdi Choir, Thüringen Philharmonie Gotha; Matthias Beckert.