Johannes Brahms lost first his friend Robert Schumann, then his beloved mother. Touched by death, the composer started work on his greatest and most moving work, Ein deutsches Requiem, not so much in memory of those who had passed away as for the consolation of those who mourned them. Indeed this work, based on Bible texts as translated by Martin Luther, has been called ‘ein menschliches Requiem’ (‘a human Requiem’). The Lahti Symphony Orchestra will perform for the first time under the direction of Masaaki Suzuki, known as an insightful interpreter of major choral works.