45 (German: Ein deutsches Requiem, nach Worten der heiligen Schrift) by Johannes Brahms, is a large-scale work for chorus, orchestra, and soprano and baritone soloists, composed between 1865 and 1868.

Brahms's mother died in February 1865, a loss that caused him much grief and may well have inspired Ein deutsches Requiem.

Brahms's lingering feelings over Robert Schumann's death in July 1856 may also have been a motivation, though his reticence about such matters makes this uncertain.

[4] The first performance of the six movements premiered in the Bremen Cathedral six months later on Good Friday, 10 April 1868, with Brahms conducting and Julius Stockhausen as the baritone soloist.

The final, seven-movement version of A German Requiem was premiered in Leipzig on 18 February 1869 with Carl Reinecke conducting the Gewandhaus Orchestra and Chorus, and soloists Emilie Bellingrath-Wagner and Franz Krückl.

In the Bremen performance of the piece, Reinthaler took the liberty of inserting the aria "I know that my Redeemer liveth" from Handel's Messiah to satisfy the clergy.

In the third movement, the baritone requests "Herr, lehre doch mich" ("Lord, teach me"); the choir repeats his words several times, making the personal prayer more general.

Almost all movements, with the exception of IV and VII, connect different Bible verses, which lead from suffering and mourning to consolation.

A German Requiem is unified compositionally by a three-note motif of a leap of a major third, usually followed by a half-step in the same direction.

[8] Most critics have commented on the high level of craftsmanship displayed in the work, and have appreciated its quasi-Classical structures (e.g. the second, third, and sixth movements have fugues at their climax).

[4] In 1866 Brahms made an arrangement for piano solo of the six-movement version of the Requiem, which he revealed to Clara Schumann at Christmas of that year.

[11] An arrangement of the first movement for concert band by Barbara Buehlman, under the title "Blessed Are They", has been a standard part of that ensemble's literature for many years.

The start of the piece's second movement, "Denn alles Fleisch, es ist wie Gras" ("For all flesh, is as grass"), is used in the opening credits of the BBC documentary film series The Nazis: A Warning from History, with various sections of this part of the movement being used for the closing credits.