Frau Gertraud, JWV 145

Josef Rheinberger's Frau Gertraud paints a poignant scene of a mother and her dying daughter. The text describes Frau Gertraud sewing a white dress for her child and a black one for herself, a stark contrast that presages grief. The sick child's innocent question about reaching heaven prompts a tender, sorrowful reply from the mother, revealing that death is the journey. The partsong, set for SATTB voices in German, then depicts the mother's tearful vigil through the night as the child sleeps, never to awaken. The poignant narrative concludes with Frau Gertraud dressing her child in the white garment and weeping to God, a powerful expression of loss and acceptance.