Composed in 1859, the year after the ‘Ave Maria’, the setting of Psalm 13 Op 27 was first performed in St Peter’s Church, Hamburg, on 19 September 1859, with Brahms himself directing. It was not published until 1864, along with a five-part string arrangement alternative to the organ accompaniment. The setting maintains a remarkable emotional detachment until the words ‘Ich hoffe aber darauf’, where the music at last moves into a radiantly affirmative G major with an unmistakable infusion of expressive warmth.
from notes by Julian Haylock © 1991
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