Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven as one of the "Three Bs" of music, a comment originally made by the nineteenth-century conductor Hans von Bülow. He composed for symphony orchestra, chamber ensembles, piano, organ, voice, and chorus. A virtuoso pianist, he premiered many of his own works. He worked with leading performers of his time, including the pianist Clara Schumann and the violinist Joseph Joachim (the three were close friends). Many of his works have become staples of the modern concert repertoire.

Brahms has been considered both a traditionalist and an innovator, by his contemporaries and by later writers. His music is rooted in the structures and compositional techniques of the Classical masters. Embedded within those structures are deeply Romantic motifs. While some contemporaries found his music to be overly academic, his contribution and craftsmanship were admired by subsequent figures as diverse as Arnold Schoenberg and Edward Elgar. The detailed construction of Brahms's works was a starting point and an inspiration for a generation of composers.

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.

Nachtwache II (Night watch II) was composed by Brahms in E? Major, for chorus (SAATBB). All at once, the mood is set by a more confident and reassuring tone in the music as well as in the text. The repeated calls of "Ruhn sie?" in all six voices is an imitation of the horns of the night watchmen, telling their listeners to confidently put out their lamps and let themselves be enveloped by the peaceful night. This is the shortest of the five songs, with just 21 bars.

Source: Wikipedia: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%BCnf_Ges%C3%A4nge,_ Op._104_(Brahms)).

Although originally written for Chorus (SAATBB), I created this arrangement of the "Nachtwache II" from 'Fünf Gesänge' (Op.104 No. 2) for Wind Sextet (Flute, Oboe, Bb Clarinet, English Horn, French Horn & Bassoon).