Brahms's deeply moving Alto Rhapsody is one of the glories of the choral repertoire. Though it was written as a wedding song for the daughter of his friend Clara Schumann, the work clearly seems a deeply personal one for Brahms. Perhaps, as some have suggested, a melancholy reflection on his own solitary life. This great concert favorite is based on portions of the text of Goethe's Harzreise im Winter (Winter Journey in the Harz Mountains),...