Johannes Brahms

5 Gesänge op. 104

This collection, created in 1888, is Johannes Brahms' last collection of secular choral songs. Originally for four-to-six parts, these sonorous choral works are striking for their rich harmony and double-choir polyphonic effects, traits more frequently found in his sacred works. The compilation of the texts testifies to the 55-year-old composer's growing awareness of the transience of nature and life The name SAM-Klang takes the three voice parts from the arrangements - Soprano, Alto and Men - and combines it with the Scandinavian and German words for 'sound' to create the portmanteau word 'sound together' or 'harmony'. The SAM-Klang series offers basic and advanced choral repertoire arranged for soprano, alto and one male voice- part. In addition to new repertoire and new arrangements, you will also find essential parts of the classical German, Scandinavian, French and English SATB repertoire, carefully and considerately reworked for SAM. The arrangements retain the characteristic features of the original movements and have almost the same richness of timbre, resulting in works which sound nearly unchanged to an audience. Piano reductions of all choral movements facilitate rehearsal preparation. The arrangements offer development opportunities for all voice sections, bringing new life and new quality to SAM choir work. SAM-Klang enables youth choirs to gain access to classical choral literature and ensures that mixed choirs who face challenges in finding singers for all male voice parts continue to have access to well-loved repertoire. For further information and to discover more about SAM-Klang, including recordings, translations, pronunciation guides, videos, existing and new volumes in the series, please visit www.sam-klang.com