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O Tod, o Tod, wie bitter (Ecclesiasticus 41 : 1​-​3)

from Ach, des Knaben Augen by Cliff Ridley Baritone, Danielle Marcinek Piano

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O Tod, o Tod, wie bitter (Ecclesiasticus 41 : 1-3)
Vier ernste Gesange - Four Serious Songs
by Johannes Brahms

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) devoted much of his compositional career to Lieder. He had a great distaste for empty display, and in his songs, as in all his works, he avoided emotional indulgence. Brahms sought out texts that create an evocative atmosphere. Although he was attracted to poetry about love and nature, he was also drawn to the subject of death, particularly in his later years.
Vier ernste Gesänge ("Four serious songs") were composed in 1896, just a year before Brahms's death. It was also the last music that he published, and in it one senses a work of conscious farewell. It was also composed the same year that his great love, Clara Schumann, died. Brahms's response to mortality seems to be one of resignation, but also of courage, and this set of songs is imbued with compassion, wisdom and a deep concern for humanity. Brahms chose biblical texts for this set of songs, with the first three describing different aspects of death. The piano prelude in "Ich wandte mich" moves down in octaves, a common Brahms motif for death, but the song ends on a reconciling and accepting major tonality at the last phrase. In "O Tod, o Tod, wie bitter" the bitterness of death for some is contrasted with its comfort for others. The last song, "Wenn ich mit Menschen", takes as its text Saint Paul's stirring sermon on charity (1 Corinthians 13: 1-13) and ends the set on a note of exaltation.

lyrics

7. OH DEATH, HOW BITTER IS THE REMEMBERANCE OF THEE

Oh death, how bitter is the rememberance of thee!
To a man that is at peace with his possesions,
Unto the man that hath nothing to distract him,
And hath prosperity in all things,
And that still has strength
To recieve meat!
Oh death, how bitter is the rememberance of thee!
Oh death, how aceptable is thy sentence unto a man
That is needy and that faileth in strength
That is in extreme old age, and is distracted in all things,
And that looks for no better lot,
Nor waiteth on better days
Oh death, how bitter is the rememberance of thee!

credits

from Ach, des Knaben Augen, released June 12, 2013

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Ludwig Recordings Delta, British Columbia

Ludwig Recordings is a Record Label specializing in the music of composer Christopher Ludwig and its artists.
Ludwig Recordings has an especially strong focus on Art Song.

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