Gesang der Parzen
Gesang der Parzen, Op. 89, is a piece for mixed choir and orchestra by Johannes Brahms.
The work uses a text from Goethe's Iphigenie auf Tauris. Written in one movement, the piece was composed in 1882, premiered in Basel on 10 December of the same year, and published in 1883.
It is written for six-part choir and an orchestra comprising two flutes, two oboes, two B clarinets, two bassoons, double bassoon, two French horns in D, two French horns in F, two trumpets, alto, tenor and bass trombones, tuba, timpani and strings.
The piece is not often performed but has been recorded several times, and has had its fans: Anton Webern admired a passage in the coda built on a cycle of major thirds.
