Hyperion Records

Brahms wrote the Alto Rhapsody in 1869. It is a setting of three stanzas from Goethe’s Winter Journey in the Harz Mountains in which a young and unhappy man seeks solace in the wilderness. A darkly scored recitative introduction in C minor [1] tells of the wandering in the wilderness. The man’s anguish – he speaks of ‘hatred of men’ (‘Menschenhass’) – is projected in the cross-rhythms of the subsequent aria [2]. Finally, the wanderer finds emotional stability in the serene C major melody shared between soloist and men’s chorus [3].

from notes by Michael Kennedy © 2003