Choral music has always been quite central in Brahms' oeuvre. In the course of more than 30 years, the composer shows a fascinating development, which leads from romantic opulence of the six- to eight-part movement to rather reduced austerity. Geistliches Lied Op.30 was written by the only 23-year-old, while the Five Songs op. 104 for mixed choir a cappella, written from 1886 to 1888, are his legacy in the field of secular choral song. Chorwerk Ruhr traces this development here with fascinating intensity.