Fünf Gesänge (Five songs), Op. 104, is a song cycle of five part songs for mixed choir a cappella by Johannes Brahms. Composed in 1888 when Brahms was a 55-year-old bachelor, the five songs reflect an intensely nostalgic and even tragic mood. Brahms has chosen texts which centre on lost youth, summer turning into fall and, ultimately, man's mortality. While the score and the parts themselves are not that difficult for the singers, the sombre nature of the texts coupled with intense soaring melodies and complex harmonies make it quite a demanding work for any choir.

Librettist Friedrich Rückert; Max Kalbeck; Josef Wenzig; Klaus Groth
Date of composition 1888
Premiered 1889, April 3rd in Vienna, Austria
First published 1888, N. Simrock in Berlin, Germany
Type Song(s)
Catalogue Op. 104
Approx. duration 13 minutes
Spoken language German
Instruments Chorus/Choir
Autotranslations beta Johannes Brahms: Fünf Gesänge, Op. 104
Johannes Brahms: Fünf Gesänge, Op. 104
Johannes Brahms: Fünf Gesänge, Op. 104