The Triumphlied is a work for baritone solo, choir and orchestra by the German composer Johannes Brahms. Brahms wrote the work on the occasion of the German victory in the Franco-Prussian War and dedicated it to emperor Wilhelm I. The text itself emanates from the Book of Revelation predicting the downfall of Babylon but is consciously reinterpreted into political terms. Due to its patriotic message bound to the zeitgeist of the Unification of Germany, the Triumphlied lost popularity after World War I, despite its musical quality. Today it is one of Brahms's rather unknown œuvres.
History
Brahms began the composition in autumn of 1870 under the impression of German victories during the Franco-Prussian War. The first part was finished after the proclamation of Wilhelm I as emperor. The second and third part were composed after the conclusion of a peace treaty in summer of 1871. The first print of the Triumphlied was published in 1872. It was dedicated to "His Majesty the German Emperor Wilhelm I reverentially devoted by the composer". Originally Brahms, who admired Otto von Bismarck, had intended to dedicate the work to both the emperor and the chancellor exalting the "victory of German arms".
Scoring and structure
The Triumphlied is scored for choir, baritone solo and orchestra. The orchestra includes 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 1 contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpanis and strings. An organ may be included ad libitum. Performed, the work takes between 22 and 26 minutes.
First movement
" The movement is marked as "Lebhaft und feierlich". The main theme of the first movement is a motivic echo of "Heil dir im Siegerkranz''", the unofficial national anthem of the German Empire. Although Brahms only set the first words of Revelations chapter 19 to music, the continuation of the biblical text — referring to Paris — are, however, insinuated in the music which is testified by a handwritten note on Brahms's copy of the score.
Second movement
The second movement, moderately animated, starts in G major and consists of three parts. The choir is used in an antiphonal way. In the third part of this movement, Brahms incorporated the famous hymn "Nun danket alle Gott".
The premiere of the first part took place on 7 April 1871 on the occasion of the Good Friday concert "In Memory of those who fell in Battle" in the cathedral of Bremen. The newspaper Weser-Zeitung wrote that the first part of the Triumphlied was a "real paean", "worthy of a great nation". The first performance of the complete work took place on 5 June 1872 in Karlsruhe. It was published by N. Simrock.
Literature
Daniel Beller-McKenna: Brahms and the German spirit. Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, Mass. u.a., 2004,, p. 98-132.
Klaus Häfner: Das „Triumphlied“ op. 55, eine vergessene Komposition von Johannes Brahms. In: Badische Landesbibliothek Karlsruhe : Johannes Brahms in Baden-Baden und Karlsruhe, Ausstellungskatalog, Selbstverlag der Bad. Landesbib. Karlsruhe, 1983,, p. 83-102.
