The conductor Hermann Levi, a friend of Brahms, prepared a piano-vocal score of the work in 1871, prior to the works publication. Brahms revised it upon receiving it. He wanted a symphonic sound from the piano part; what he created fully corresponds to the monumentality of the Song of Destiny.

Piano Vocal Score by Hermann Levi und Johannes Brahms. New Edition with a preface by Ulrich Mahlert.