Brahms' A German Requiem

Nashville Symphony & Chorus | Leonard Slatkin, conductor | Tucker Biddlecombe, chorus director | Érik Gratton, flute | Diana Newman, soprano | Theo Hoffman, baritone 

Leonard Slatkin leads the orchestra and chorus in Johannes Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem, an unexpected expression of grace likely prompted by the death of the composer's mother. The sheer beauty of this work has endeared it to audiences since its premiere. Brahms here offers something rare: music that sits with grief and transposes it into consolation, confidence, and even hope.

The program features Nashville Symphony principal flutist Érik Gratton stepping into the spotlight for Ibert's Flute Concerto*, one of the most demanding works ever written for the instrument—so ferociously difficult it became an exam piece at the Paris Conservatoire. 

The evening opens in a French vein with Paul Dukas' 8-minute masterpiece The Sorcerer's Apprentice, a marvel of imagination and orchestration.