Issue 3 - Brahms' "Herzlich tut mich verlangen"

This week... more Brahms! The prelude and postlude are both chorale preludes on the hymn Herzlich tut mich verlangen (My Heart is Filled with Longing). In the Lutheran Book of Worship (the green hymnal), you will find this hymn at number 116. While the tune is that of number 116, the text in the hymnal (O Sacred Head, Now Wounded) does not correspond to the text which Brahms set (My Heart is Filled with Longing). This is the full text that corresponds with the hymn:

My heart is filled with longing to pass away in peace;
For woes are 'round me thronging and trials will not cease.
Oh fain would I be hasting, from thee, dark world of gloom,
To gladness everlasting.O Jesus! quickly come.

The prelude, which is Op. 122, No. 10, places the melody of the chorale in the pedal on a "principal" stop. The manuals (or keyboards) play the accompaniment to the tune on flute and string stops, thus making the accompaniment considerably softer than the pedal tune. I would describe the accompaniment in the manuals as both restless and peaceful --- two words that aren't exactly synonyms! Depending on my disposition, I can honestly hear it both ways. Throughout the piece, there is a steady, repeating eighth note in the bass line of the manuals - perhaps it is the heartbeat... "my heart is filled with longing".

The postlude, which is Op. 122, No. 9, is a much bolder setting of the chorale; Brahms gives the dynamic marking forte (an Italian word that means "strong" and can also be interpreted as "loud"). The melody is placed in the top (or soprano) voice but may not be immediately recognizable because it is ornamented - this means that extra notes have been added between the melodic notes. The ornamentation doesn't just disguise the melody, it actually becomes a compositional tool that Brahms uses to create constant movement and to provide a means for adding in some of the rich chromatic harmonies for which Brahms is so well-known. The ornamentation creates a constant churning which I believe accurately depicts the second line of the chorale text: "For woes are 'round me thronging and trials will not cease." It is the pedal that drives this turbulence forward --- listen for its rising half step that underscores the 2nd and 4th beat!

(Image: Brahms' gravesite in Austria at the Central Cemetery of Vienna)