Editing Johannes Brahms (section)

====Requiem and personal beliefs====
In February 1865 Brahms's mother died, and he began to compose his large choral work ''A German Requiem'', Op. 45, of which six movements were completed by 1866. Premieres of the first three movements were given in Vienna, but the complete work was first given in [[Bremen]] in 1868 to great acclaim. A seventh movement (the soprano solo "Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit") was added for the equally successful Leipzig premiere (February 1869). The work went on to receive concert and critical acclaim throughout Germany and also in England, Switzerland and Russia, marking effectively Brahms's arrival on the world stage.<ref name=bozarth3 />

Baptised into the Lutheran church as an infant and confirmed at age fifteen in [[St. Michael's Church, Hamburg|St. Michael's Church]],<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=67FA4aJAy8kC&q=johannes+brahms+confirmed+michaeliskirche&pg=PA290 |title=A Brahms Reader|last=Musgrave|first=Michael|date=September 2001|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-09199-1}}</ref> Brahms has been described as an agnostic and a humanist.{{sfn|Swafford|2012|p=327}} The devout Catholic [[Antonín Dvořák]] wrote in a letter: "Such a man, such a fine soul – and he believes in nothing! He believes in nothing!"{{sfn|Swafford|1999}} When asked by conductor [[Carl Martin Reinthaler|Karl Reinthaler]] to add additional explicitly religious text to his ''[[A German Requiem (Brahms)|German Requiem]]'', Brahms is reported to have responded, "As far as the text is concerned, I confess that I would gladly omit even the word German and instead use Human; also with my best knowledge and will I would dispense with passages like [[John 3:16]]. On the other hand, I have chosen one thing or another because I am a musician, because I needed it, and because with my venerable authors I can't delete or dispute anything. But I had better stop before I say too much."{{sfn|Musgrave|1985|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780710097767/page/80 80]}}