German composer Aribert Reimann’s Requiem is a odd but moving work. The orchestra in this work contains no violins. Violas, cellos and double-basses are prominent adding a dark dimension to this already brooding work. Requiems are usually liturgical and even when serious and foreboding, generally spiritually uplifting. This requiem is downright depressing. However that doesn’t distract from the fact that Reimann has written a powerful composition. Reimann is one of the few modern composers that writes almost exclusively for the large orchestra and is also known for his chorales and operas. Listen to the exquisite arrangement and the interactions between the solo vocalists as you listen to this long but involving work.

This particular performance of Reimann’s requiem was recorded in 1983 by the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Berlin with solo vocals from Julia Varady, Helga Dernesch, and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who sang the title role in Reimann’s opera Lear, his most famous work.

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