Johannes Brahms – genius composer, eloquent conductor, brilliant concert pianist – never was more happy than when he was playing piano duets with his closest friend, Clara Schumann. Pure joy is palpable in the great master’s transcription of his German Requiem for piano four-hands, soloists, and chorus. The arrangement allows for a degree of intimacy, precision and contrapuntal clarity that cannot be achieved in the orchestral version; indeed, at times one is reminded of the Liebeslieder-Walzer op. 52.