Versions and Arrangements
An alternative version of the work was prepared by Brahms to be performed as a piano duet with four hands on one piano. This version also incorporates the vocal parts, suggesting that it was intended as a self-contained version probably for at-home use. However, the vocal parts can also be omitted, making the duet version an acceptable substitute accompaniment for choir and soloists in circumstances where a full orchestra is unavailable.
The piano duet accompaniment was based on an 1866 arrangement for piano of the six-movement version of the Requiem, which Brahms revealed to Clara Schumann at Christmas of that year. The alternative version was used, sung in English, for the first complete British performance of the Requiem (complete except for the fifth movement, which in 1866 had not yet been written). This took place on 10 July 1871 in London, at the home of Sir Henry Thompson and his wife, the pianist Kate Loder (Lady Thompson). The pianists were Kate Loder and Cipriani Potter. This version of the Requiem became known as the "London Version" (German: Londoner Fassung).
When sung in English, it is still called "A German Requiem".
Read more about this topic: A German Requiem (Brahms)
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