Composed 1884 and 1863-4 (arr. Wosner); 13 minutes

The only solo Lieder by Brahms to include two instruments rather than solo piano, these two songs were both written for the singer Amalie Schneeweiss and her husband, renowned violinist (and violist) Joseph Joachim.  The earliest, Geistliches Wiegenlied (Sacred Lullaby), was given to the couple in celebration of their wedding in 1863, then revised with the birth of their first child, named Johannes in honor of the composer. Gestillte Sehnsucht (Stilled Longing) followed two decades later, with the hope that the divorce proceedings Joachim had filed against his wife would go no further.  With Brahms writing a letter of support in Amelie’s defense, read in court, a rift was soon to develop between violinist and composer.

Both songs, two of Brahms’s greatest, open with expansive introductions, establishing the mood and main musical material.  The similarity in timbre between alto voice (here, appropriately, clarinet) and viola is expertly exploited, often as though in a duet.  Gestillte Sehnsucht, to a text, by Friedrich Rückert, contrasts the glow of an evening in the countryside with restless feelings of love.  The two instruments interweave throughout, building to a feeling of hopeful resolution.  As the Geistliches Wiegenlied opens, the viola introduces the 14^th century German carol Lieber Joseph, Joseph Mein.  Out of it, Brahms draws additional melodies by inverting the carol.