Brahms and the Buffalo Chamber Players
The Buffalo Chamber Players' concert Wednesday is unusual in that the Chamber Players are being joined by a choir, the Freudig Singers -- and also by Sebnem Mekinulov, who will be singing a famous pair of songs by Johannes Brahms, set for voice, viola and piano.
I was just looking around for performances of these songs on You Tube and I found two beautiful videos, with images and translations.
There is a certain art to this kind of craft. You do not want the images to be too distracting. You do not want pictures either that are going to stick in your head so vividly that the song will be forever associated with them in your mind. I have always thought that is a problem with pop music videos. You see the video, and you cannot hear the song again without picturing it.
Anyway, I am posting these videos of these two exquisite Brahms songs, to get everyone psyched for the concert.
Here is the first song, "Gestillte Sehnsucht" ("Stilled Longing").
Here is the second, "Geistliches Weigenlied" ("Spiritual Slumber Song," more or less).
Above is a hip poster of Brahms that the Buffalo Chamber Players have been circulating.
The concert takes place Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Buffalo Seminary. Admission is $15. For more information, visit the Chamber Player's Web site or call 462-5659.
--Mary Kunz Goldman
