"Hope Brahms－A German Requiem"Hong Kong Voices

Hong Kong Voices presents “Hope”, the final concert of our 2017 season, where we ask fundamental questions of who we are and where we go, as citizens of Hong Kong at this challenging hour. The season started with “Faith”, a concert of baroque works in January; followed by “Roots”, featuring contemporary choral works by Hong Kong composers in June. In our season finale, we present Brahms’ A German Requiem alongside two exquisite choral works by contemporary composers.

In the wake of his mother’s death, Johannes Brahms wrote his masterpiece A German Requiem. Replacing the Latin texts with passages carefully chosen from the German Bible, the result is (in Brahms’ own words) a “human” requiem dedicated to the living, one that comforts the bereaved with hope in life ahead. In the darkest hour, the light of hope, however small that speck may be, carries the determination and belief in the goodness of humanity.

You will also hear Norwegian composer Kim André Arnesen’s Even When He Is Silent in this concert. The music is set on text found written on a wall at a concentration camp after World War II. The simple text,
“I believe in the sun even when it’s not shining.
I believe in love even when I feel it not.
I believe in God even when He is silent.”

thus closes our 2017 season with a simple message: bear our identity in mind, and have faith and hope in the most difficult times.


Programme
HENSON My Flight for Heaven (2007)
ARNESEN Even When He Is Silent (2011)
BRAHMS A German Requiem Op.45 (chamber version, arr. Linckelmann)

Performers
Choir: Hong Kong Voices
Conductor: Grace Chiang
Soprano: Candice Chung
Baritone: Yun-Kwan Yiu
Concertmaster: Otto Kwan