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Johannes Brahms

 
Who2 Biography: Johannes Brahms, Composer / Pianist
 

  • Born: 7 May 1833
  • Birthplace: Hamburg, Germany
  • Died: 3 April 1897 (liver cancer)
  • Best Known As: German composer of "Brahms' Lullaby" ("Wiegenlied")

German pianist and composer Johannes Brahms is ranked among the masters of the Romantic era. Although he showed talent at the piano at an early age, he spent much of his young life performing rather than composing. Brahms's career was given a boost by composer Robert Schumann (1810-56) and his pianist wife Clara (1819-96); his close relationship with Clara, especially after she was widowed, has been the source of much speculation ever since. The pair exchanged passionate letters and went on holiday together, but Brahms opted to leave her behind to pursue his career and a life of bachelorhood. By the end of the 1860s he'd settled in Vienna, where he lived until his death from cancer in 1897. Musically he maintained the Romantic tradition of Ludwig van Beethoven, in opposition to the rise of composers such as Richard Wagner and Brahms's friend, Franz Liszt. His most famous composition is the lullaby, "Lied Wiegenlied" ("Cradle Song"), popularly known as simply "Brahms' Lullaby." His compositions include German Requiem (1866), Violin Concerto in D (1878) and Piano Concertos in B Flat (1878-81).

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Artist: Johannes Brahms
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Johannes Brahms
  • Period: Romantic (1820-1869)
  • Country: Germany
  • Born: May 07, 1833 in Hamburg, Germany
  • Died: April 03, 1897 in Vienna, Austria
  • Genres: Chamber Music, Choral Music, Concerto, Keyboard Music, Miscellaneous Music, Orchestral Music, Symphony, Vocal Music

Biography

The stature of Johannes Brahms among classical composers is well illustrated by his inclusion among the "Three Bs" triumvirate of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. Of all the major composers of the late Romantic era, Brahms was the one most attached to the Classical ideal as manifested in the music of Haydn, Mozart, and especially Beethoven; indeed, Hans von Bülow once characterized Brahms' Symphony No. 1 (1855-1876) as "Beethoven's Tenth." As a youth, Brahms was championed by Robert Schumann as music's greatest hope for the future; as a mature composer, Brahms became for conservative musical journalists the most potent symbol of musical tradition, a stalwart against the "degeneration" represented by the music of Wagner and his school. Brahms' symphonies, choral and vocal works, chamber music, and piano pieces are imbued with strong emotional feeling, yet take shape according to a thoroughly considered structural plan.

The son of a double bassist in the Hamburg Philharmonic Society, Brahms demonstrated great promise from the beginning. He began his musical career as a pianist, contributing to the family coffers as a teenager by playing in restaurants, taverns, and even brothels. Though by his early twenties he enjoyed associations with luminaries like violinists Eduard Reményi and Joseph Joachim, the friend and mentor who was most instrumental in advancing his career was Schumann, who all but adopted him and became his most ardent partisan, and their esteem was mutual. Following Schumann's death in 1856, Brahms became the closest confidant and lifelong friend of the composer's widow, pianist and composer Clara Wieck Schumann. After a life of spectacular musical triumphs and failed loves (the composer was involved in several romantic entanglements but never wed), Brahms died of liver cancer on April 3, 1897.

In every genre in which he composed, Brahms produced works that have become staples of the repertory. His most ambitious work, the German Requiem (1863-1867), is the composer's singular reinterpretation of an age-old form. The four symphonies -- lushly scored, grand in scope, and deeply expressive -- are cornerstones of the symphonic literature. Brahms' concertos are, similarly, in a monumental, quasi-symphonic vein: the two piano concertos (1856-1859 and 1881) and the Violin Concerto (1878) call for soloists with both considerable technical skill and stamina. His chamber music is among the most sophisticated and exquisitely crafted of the Romantic era; for but a single example, his works that incorporate the clarinet (e.g., the Trio in A minor, Op. 114 and the two Sonatas, Op. 120), an instrument largely overlooked by his contemporaries, remain unsurpassed. Though the piano sonata never held for Brahms the same appeal it had for Beethoven (Brahms wrote three to Beethoven's 32), he produced a voluminous body of music for the piano. He showed a particular affinity for variations -- notably, on themes of Schumann (1854), Handel (1861), and Paganini (1862-1863) -- and likewise produced a passel of national dances and character pieces such as ballades, intermezzi, and rhapsodies. Collectively, these constitute one of the essential bodies of work in the realm of nineteenth century keyboard music. ~ AMG, All Music Guide
 
Music Encyclopedia: Johannes Brahms
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(b Hamburg, 7 May 1833; d Vienna, 3 April 1897). German composer. He studied the piano from the age of seven and theory and composition (with Eduard Marxsen) from 13, gaining experience as an arranger for his father's light orchestra while absorbing the popular alla zingarese style associated with Hungarian folk music. In 1853, on a tour with the Hungarian violinist Reményi, he met Joseph Joachim and Liszt; Joachim, who became a lifelong friend, encouraged him to meet Schumann. Brahms's artistic kinship with Robert Schumann and his profound romantic passion (later mellowing to veneration) for Clara Schumann, 14 years his elder, never left him. After a time in Düsseldorf he worked in Detmold, settling in Hamburg in 1859 to direct a women's chorus. Though well known as a pianist he had trouble finding recognition as a composer, largely owing to his outspoken opposition - borne out in his D minor Piano Concerto op.15 - to the aesthetic principles of Liszt and the New German School. But his hopes for an official conducting post in Hamburg (never fulfilled) were strengthened by growing appreciation of his creative efforts, especially the two orchestral serenades, the Handel Variations for piano and the early piano quartets. He finally won a position of influence in 1863-4, as director of the Vienna Singakademie, concentrating on historical and modern a cappella works. Around this time he met Wagner, but their opposed stances precluded anything like friendship. Besides giving concerts of his own music, he made tours throughout northern and central Europe and began teaching the piano. He settled permanently in Vienna in 1868.

Brahms's urge to hold an official position (connected in his mind with notions of social respectability) was again met by a brief conductorship - in 1872-3 of the Vienna Gesellschaftskonzerte - but the practical demands of the job conflicted with his even more intense longing to compose. Both the German Requiem (first complete performance, 1869) and the Variations on the St Antony Chorale (1873) were rapturously acclaimed, bringing international renown and financial security. Honours from home and abroad stimulated a spate of masterpieces, including the First (1876) and Second (1877) Symphonies, the Violin Concerto (1878), the songs of opp. 69-72 and the C major Trio. In 1881 Hans von Bülow became a valued colleague and supporter, ‘lending’ Brahms the fine Meiningen court orchestra to rehearse his new works, notably the Fourth Symphony (1885). At Bad Ischl, his favourite summer resort, he composed a series of important chamber works. By 1890 he had resolved to stop composing but nevertheless produced in 1891-4 some of his best instrumental pieces, inspired by the clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld. Soon after Clara's death in 1896 he died from cancer, aged 63, and was buried in Vienna.

Fundamentally reserved, logical and studious, Brahms was fond of taut forms in his music, though he used genre distinctions loosely. In the piano music, for example, which chronologically encircles his vocal output, the dividing lines beteen ballade and rhapsody, and capriccio and intermezzo, are vague; such terms refer more to expressive character than to musical form. As in other media, his most important development technique in the piano music is variation, whether used independently (simple melodic alteration and thematic cross-reference) or to create a large integrated cycle in which successive variations contain their own thematic transformation (as in the Handel Variations).

If producing chamber works without piano caused him difficulty, these pieces contain some of his most ingenious music, including the Clarinet Quintet and the three string quartets. Of the other chamber music, the eloquent pair of string sextets, the serious C minor Piano Quartet op.60 (known to be autobigraphical), the richly imaginative Piano Quintet and the fluent Clarinet Trio op.114 are noteworthy. The confidence to finish and present his First Symphony took Brahms 15 years for worries over not only his orchestral technique but the work's strongly Classical lines at a time when programmatic symphonies were becoming fashionable; his closely worked score led him to be hailed as Beethoven's true heir. In all four symphonies he is entirely personal in his choice of material, structural manipulation of themes and warm but lucid scoring. All four move from a weighty opening movement through loosely connected inner movements to a monumental finale. Here again his use of strict form, for example the ground bass scheme in the finale of the Fouth Symphony, is not only discreet but astonishingly effective. Among the concertos, the four-movement Second Piano Concerto in B♭ - on a grandly symphonic scale, demanding both physically and intellectually - and the Violin Concerto (dedicated to Joachim and lyrical as well as brilliant) are important, as too is the nobly rhetorical Double Concerto.

Brahms's greatest vocal work, and a work central to his career, is the German Requiem (1868), combining mixed chorus, solo voices and full orchestra in a deeply felt, non-denominational statement of faith. More Romantic are the Schicksalslied and the Alto Rhapsody. Between these large choral works and the many a cappella ones showing his informed appreciation of Renaissance and Baroque polyphony (he was a diligent collector, scholar and editor of old music) stand the justly popular Zigeunerlieder (in modified gypsy style) and the ländler -like Liebeslieder waltzes with piano accompaniment. His best-loved songs include, besides the narrative Magelone cycle and the sublime Vier ernste Gesänge, Mainacht, Feldeinsamkeit and Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer.

works:
Orchestral music
  • Sym. no.1, c (1876)
  • Sym. no.2, D (1877)
  • Sym. no.3, F (1883)
  • Sym. no.4, e (1885)
  • Serenade no.1, D (1858)
  • Serenade no.2, A (1859)
  • Pf Conc. no.1, d (1861)
  • Pf Conc. no.2, B♭ (1882)
  • Vn Conc., D (1878)
  • Double Conc., vn, vc, a (1887)
  • Academic Festival Ov. (1880)
  • Tragic Ov. (1886)
  • Variations on the St Antony Chorale (1873)
Chamber music
  • 5 pf trios (op.8, B, 1854, rev. 1859)
  • op.40, E♭, 1865 [ vn, hn, pf ]
  • op.87, C, 1882
  • op.101, c, 1886
  • op.114, a, 1891 [ cl, vc, pf ]
  • 3 pf qts (op.25, g, 1861
  • op.26, A, 1862
  • op.60, c, 1875)
  • Pf Qnt, op.34, f (1864)
  • Cl Qnt, op.115, b (1891)
  • 3 str qts (op.51 no.1-2, c, a, 1873
  • op.67, B♭, 1876)
  • 2 str qnts (op.88, F, 1882, op.111, G, 1890)
  • 2 str sextets (op.18, B♭, 1860
  • op.36, G, 1865)
  • 2 vc sonatas (op.38, e, 1865
  • op.99, F, 1886)
  • 3 vn sonatas (op.78, G, 1879
  • op.100, A, 1886
  • op.108, d, 1888)
  • 2 cl/va sonatas (op.120, f, E♭, 1894)
Piano music
  • sonatas, dance movts, studies, ballades, capriccios intermezzos, fantasias, rhapsodies and variations (incl. Handel Variations, B♭, 1861
  • Paganini Variations, a, 1862-3)
  • pf duets, incl. 21 Hungarian Dances (1868-80)
  • pieces for two pfs
Vocal music
  • 20 canons, mostly for female vv
  • c 60 solo qts with pf acc, incl. Liebeslieder Waltzes, opp. 52 and 65, Zigeunerlieder, op.103 (1888)
  • 20 duets
  • c 200 lieder, incl. 15 Romances from Tieck's ‘Magelone’ op.33 (1869), Vier ernste Gesänge, op.121 (1896)
Choral music
  • German Requiem (1868)
  • Alto Rhapsody (1869)
  • Schicksalslied (1871)
  • 13 unacc. motets, incl. Fest - und Gedenksprüche op.109 (?1886-9)
  • 46 a cappella songs
  • 26 folksongs, arr. 4 vv
Other
  • 144 folksong arrs.
  • 10 arrs. of works by other composers
  • works for org incl. 11 chorale preludes (1896)


 
Biography: Johannes Brahms
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The German composer, pianist, and conductor Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) was one of the most significant composers of the 19th century. His works greatly enriched the romantic repertory.

Johannes Brahms stands midway between the conservative purveyors of the classic tradition, that is, the imitators of Felix Mendelssohn, and the so-called musicians of the future such as Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner. Brahms infused the traditional forms with romantic melody and harmony, respecting the inheritance of the past but making it relevant to his own age. His position of moderation effected a necessary balance in the creative output of the romantic century and led to high critical esteem by his contemporaries.

Johannes Brahms was born in Hamburg on May 7, 1833, the son of Johann Jakob and Christina Nissen Brahms. The father, an innkeeper and a musician of moderate ability, earned a precarious living for his family of five. Johannes received his first music instruction from his father.

At the age of seven Johannes began studying piano. He played a private subscription concert at the age of 10 to obtain funds for his future education. He also learned theory and composition and began to improvise compositions at the piano. To help out with family finances, Brahms played the piano in sailors' haunts and local dance salons. This contact with the seamier side of life may have conditioned his lifelong revulsion from physical intimacy with the women he idealized and loved.

Early Works

The late hours proved taxing to the 14-year-old boy and impaired his health. Brahms was offered a long recuperative holiday at Winsen-an-der-Luhe, where he conducted a small male choir for whom he wrote his first choral compositions. On his return to Hamburg he gave several concerts, but, failing to win recognition, he continued to play at humble places of amusement, gave inexpensive piano lessons, and began the hackwork of arranging popular music for piano.

In 1850 Brahms became acquainted with the Hungarian violinist Eduard Reményi, who introduced him to the rich tradition of gypsy dance tunes that were to be influential in his mature compositions. In the next few years Brahms composed several works for piano that are still in the repertoire: the Scherzo in E-flat Minor (1851), the Sonata in F-sharp Minor (1852), and the Sonata in C Major (1853). Reményi and Brahms embarked on several successful concert tours in 1853. At Hanover they met one of the greatest German violinists, Joseph Joachim, who arranged for them to play before the King of Hanover and gave them an introduction to Liszt at Weimar. Joachim also wrote a glowing letter to Robert Schumann expressing his enthusiasm for the young composer.

The next move was obviously to visit Weimar, where Liszt received them warmly and was greatly impressed with Brahms's compositions. Liszt hoped to recruit him for his coterie of composers, but Brahms could not adapt to the superficiality of Liszt's music. Although no open breach occurred, the two musicians did draw apart.

Friendship with the Schumanns

In 1853 Brahms wrote the Piano Sonata in F Minor. Later that year he met Schumann and his wife, Clara, with whom he formed a lifelong friendship. Schumann's enthusiasm for the young composer knew no bounds. In a long article in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, Schumann wrote of him, "I thought that someone would have to appear suddenly who was called upon to utter the highest expression of his time in an ideal manner…." Schumann also arranged for Brahm's first compositions to be published. During 1854 he wrote the Piano Trio No. 1, the Variations on a Theme of Schumann for piano, and the Ballades for piano.

Brahms was summoned to Düsseldorf in 1854, when Schumann had a mental breakdown and attempted suicide. For the next few years he stayed close to the Schumanns, assisting Clara in whatever way he could and remaining near her even after Schumann's death in 1856. To earn his living, he taught piano privately but also spent some time on concert tours. Two concerts given with the singer Julius Stockhausen served to establish Brahms as an important song composer.

In 1857 Brahms went to the court of Lippe-Detmold, where he taught the piano to Princess Friederike and conducted the choral society. Many of his folk-song arrangements were made for this choir. During the summer he went to Göttingen to be near Clara Schumann, for whose children he also arranged several folk songs. There can be no question but that he was in love with Clara, 14 years older than he, but either her wisdom prevailed and the idyllic relationship terminated or Brahms suffered from his lifelong inability to consummate his love for a woman he idealized. Whatever the reason, it speaks well for both of them that love was replaced by a warm friendship that lasted to Clara's death. While at Göttingen he became passionately interested in the soprano Agatha von Siebold, but this romance, although it brought him nearer to marriage than any other, soon terminated.

Works of the Middle Years

Brahms's Piano Concerto in D Minor (1858) was performed the next year with Joachim conducting at Hanover, Leipzig, and Hamburg. Only in Hamburg was it favorably received. During the Lippe-Detmold period Brahms produced the two Serenades for small orchestra, an evocation of an 18th-century form. He was also appointed conductor of a ladies' choir in Hamburg, for whom he wrote the Marienlieder.

In 1860 Brahms became enraged at the propaganda that the avant-garde theories of the "New German" school headed by Liszt were being accepted by all musicians of consequence and took part in a press manifesto against this group of musicians. During this period Brahms moved to Hamburg and buried himself in compositional activities with frequent public appearances sandwiched in. In the year of the manifesto he completed the Sextet for Strings in B-flat Major and the Variations on an Original Theme for piano, performed by Clara Schumann; the next year, the Piano Quartets in G Minor and A Major and the well-known Variations on a Theme of Handel for piano.

In 1862 his friend Stockhausen was appointed conductor of the Hamburg Philharmonic and the Singakadamie. Although Brahms was happy for his friend, he deeply resented being passed over for these important posts. He became more and more attracted to Vienna, and in 1863 he gave a concert there to introduce his songs to the Austrian public. They were well received, especially by the critic Eduard Hanslick, with whom Brahms became a fast friend. Brahms also met Wagner at this time, and, although the famous manifesto of 1860 made relations between the two composers difficult, each was still on occasion able to admire some things in the other's work.

In 1863 Brahms became conductor of the Singakademie in Vienna. A year later he resigned, but for the rest of his life Vienna was home to him. He began to do what he had always wished - to make composing the main source of his income - and as his fame and popularity grew, he composed more and more with only some occasional teaching and performing. In Baden-Baden in 1864 on a visit to Clara Schumann, he wrote the Piano Quintet in F Minor, and a year later the Horn Trio in E-flat Major.

In 1865 Brahms's mother, long estranged from her husband, died. During the next year he worked on the German Requiem in her memory.

The next years saw a proliferation of activity as a composer. His most important publications were the Variations on a Theme of Paganini for piano, the String Sextet in G Major, and several song collections. It is not always possible to date Brahms's compositions exactly because of his penchant for revising a work or adding to it frequently. Thus, the German Requiem, practically finished in 1866, was not published in its final form until 1869 and given its first complete performance that year. Yet some of the germinal material used in the Requiem dates back to the period around Schumann's final illness and death. The year 1869 also witnessed the composition of the Liebeslieder Waltzes for piano duet and vocal quartet and the Alto Rhapsody for contralto, male chorus, and orchestra, as well as the publication of his Hungarian Dances for piano duet.

Late Masterpieces

Brahms's father died in 1872. After a short holiday at Baden-Baden, Brahms accepted the post of artistic director of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde (Friends of Music) in Vienna. Imposing masterpieces continued to pour from his pen. In 1873 came the Variations on a Theme of Haydn in two versions, one for orchestra and the other for two pianos; the String Quartets Nos. 1 and 2; and the Songs, Op. 59. The next year produced the Piano Quartet No. 3; the Songs, Op. 63; and the Neue Liebeslieder Waltzes. Against this background of activity the details of his everyday life seem trivial. He composed, went on concert tours chiefly to foster his own music, and took long holidays.

During his earlier years Brahms had helped support both his mother and father. Now with that obligation over and with money coming in from all sides, he was exceedingly well off financially and could do as he pleased. He resigned the conductorship of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in 1875, for even those duties were onerous to him. That summer he worked on his Symphony No. 1 and sketched the Symphony No. 2.

In 1880 the University of Breslau offered Brahms a doctorate, in appreciation of which he wrote the Academic Festival Overture and, for good measure, the companion Tragic Overture. During the intervening years he had discovered Italy, and for the rest of his life he vacationed there frequently. Vacations for Brahms meant composing, and masterpiece now followed masterpiece: the Violin Concerto in D Major (1878), the Violin Sonata in G Major (1879), the two Rhapsodies for piano (1880), the Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major (1881), the Symphony No. 3 (1883), and the Symphony No. 4 (1884). These are the highlights of years filled with innumerable other compositions and publications.

Much of the credit for the universal acceptance of Brahms's orchestral works was due to the activities of their great interpreter, Hans von Bülow, who had transferred his allegiance from the Liszt-Wagner camp to Brahms. In the composer's works he felt the logical continuation of the Beethoven tradition to be manifest, and Bülow lavished tremendous energy in seeing that these compositions received properly executed performances.

In his later works Brahms showed an austerity that is in a sense a reflection of his own growing inwardness. Always self-critical and impatient with insincerity, he now translated this reserve into the sparseness and restraint of his own compositions. This can be observed in the sonatas for various instrumental combinations written in 1886, the Concerto for Violin and Cello (1887), and the Violin and Piano Sonata No. 3 (1888).

His native Hamburg gave Brahms the keys to the city in 1889. As a thank offering, he composed the Deutsche Festund Gedenksprüche for eight-part chorus. He also became acquainted with the superb clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld, for whom he wrote his exquisite clarinet works. They performed these compositions all over Germany.

When he was about 60 years old, Brahms began to age rapidly and the range of his production was noticeably reduced. He often spoke of having arrived at the end of his creative activity. Nonetheless, the works of this last period are awesome in their grandeur and concentration, and the last of his published works, the Vier ernste Gesänge (Four Serious Songs), are among the high points of his creativity.

Brahms's already precarious health was impaired even further by the news of the death of Clara Schumann in 1896. On April 3, 1897, he died, ravaged by cancer of the liver. He was buried next to Beethoven and Schubert, honored by all Vienna and the entire musical world.

Further Reading

A full treatment of Brahms's works is in Edwin Evans, Historical, Descriptive and Analytical Account of the Entire Works of Johannes Brahms (4 vols., 1912-1936). For personal reminiscences of Brahms see Florence May, The Life of Johannes Brahms (2 vols., 1905; new ed. 1948), and George Henschel, Personal Recollections of Johannes Brahms (1907). The best general work on Brahms is Karl Geiringer, Brahms: His Life and Work (1936; rev. ed. 1947). Also very useful is the short work in the Master Musicians Series by Peter Latham, Brahms (1948). Daniel Gregory Mason, From Grieg to Brahms: Studies of Some Modern Composers and Their Art (1921; rev. ed. 1927), gives historical background.

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Johannes Brahms
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(born May 7, 1833, Hamburg — died April 3, 1897, Vienna, Austria-Hungary) German composer. The son of a musician, he became a piano prodigy. In 1853 he met the composer Robert Schumann and his pianist wife, Clara (see Clara Schumann); Robert immediately proclaimed him a genius, and Clara became the lifelong object of his affections. In 1863 Brahms moved to Vienna, which would remain his principal home until his death. He took several positions as choral and orchestral conductor and performed as a soloist. The success of his German Requiem (1868) gave him an international reputation; his first symphony (1876) brought him even greater fame, and his violin concerto (1879) and second piano concerto (1882) led many to acclaim him the greatest living composer. His music complemented and counteracted the rapid growth of Romantic individualism in the second half of the 19th century. He was a traditionalist in the sense that he greatly revered the subtlety and power of movement displayed by the Classical composers Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. His orchestral works include four symphonies (1876, 1877, 1883, 1885), two piano concertos (1858, 1881), a violin concerto (1878), and a double concerto for violin and cello (1887). His chamber music includes four string quartets, two string sextets, two string quintets, three piano quartets, three piano trios, and violin, cello, piano, and clarinet sonatas. He also wrote choral music and more than 250 lieder (see lied).

For more information on Johannes Brahms, visit Britannica.com.

 
Dictionary of Dance: Johannes Brahms
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Brahms, Johannes (b Hamburg, 7 May 1833, d Vienna, 3 Apr. 1897). German composer. Although he wrote no ballet music, his music has been used by many choreographers. Massine controversially used his 4th Symphony for the 1933 ballet Choreartium; Nijinska created Brahms Variations in 1944 to Variations on Themes by Handel and Paganini; while Balanchine's Liebeslieder Walzer (1960) and Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (1966) used Brahms scores. Tharp choreographed Brahms' Paganini in 1980 to the Paganini Variations and in 1984 made (with Robbins) Brahms/Handel, set to Variation and Fugue on a Theme by Handel. Mark Morris set his 1982 New Love Song Waltzes to Neue Liebeslieder and his 1989 Love Song Waltzes to Liebeslieder.

 
German Literature Companion: Johannes Brahms
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Brahms, Johannes (Hamburg, 1833-97, Vienna), at first a piano virtuoso and later the outstanding classical composer of the second half of the 19th c. In addition to his instrumental music Brahms wrote many Lieder (see Lied) and choral works. The texts of Ein deutsches Requiem and Vier ernste Gesänge are from the Lutheran Bible, that of the Schicksalslied from Hölderlin, and of the Alto Rhapsody from Goethe's poem Harzreise im Winter. His Lieder include settings of Goethe (‘Trost in Tränen’), Hölty (‘Die Mainacht’), Eichendorff, Schenkendorf, Uhland, Rückert, Heine, Keller, Groth, Allmers, and Liliencron, as well as of many lesser poets. Brahms was a loyal friend and supporter of Clara Schumann (see Schumann, Robert).

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Johannes Brahms
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Brahms, Johannes (brämz, Ger. yōhän'nĕs bräms) , 1833–97, German composer, b. Hamburg. Brahms ranks among the greatest masters of the romantic period. The son of a musician, he early showed astonishing talent in many directions; he chose as a boy to become a pianist. As accompanist to the violinist Eduard Reményi he attracted the notice of Johann Joachim, who introduced him to leading musical circles. Brahms became the devoted friend of Robert and Clara Schumann, both of whom admired his compositions. His later activities as pianist and as choral conductor were not very successful, but after he settled in Vienna his compositions brought him enough money to support himself in simple comfort. Brahms never married, although he had several love affairs and remained deeply attached to Clara Schumann for years after her husband's death.

In his music the romantic impulse is restrained by a reverence for the forms of the past. This blend of romantic feeling and classical spirit is exemplified in such works as his Variations on a Theme by Handel (1861), for piano, and the orchestral composition Variations on a Theme by Haydn (1873). In his day, Brahms's conservative romanticism was contrasted with Richard Wagner's dramatic romantic style, and a controversy raged between supporters of Brahms and the followers of the “neo-German” school led by Liszt and Wagner. His extreme self-criticism led him to destroy much of what he composed, limiting the number of his existing works but ensuring a uniformly high quality.

Brahms wrote four symphonies, which are considered among the greatest in symphonic music. Major choral works include Ein deutsches Requiem [a German requiem] (1866) and Schicksalslied [song of destiny] (1868), both for chorus and orchestra. The Violin Concerto in D (1878), the Piano Concerto in B Flat (1878–81), and the Piano Quintet in F Minor (1864) are staples of the concert repertory. Brahms also composed sonatas, capriccios, intermezzos—works in almost every genre except opera. Throughout his life he devoted attention to chamber music and songs, which vary from simple accompaniments for folk songs to solemn compositions such as Vier ernste Gesange [four serious songs] (1896). Many of his exquisite romantic lieder, in which the words, melody, and piano accompaniment are inseparably blended, are favorites among singers, and his lullaby has long been a familiar melody throughout the world.

Bibliography

See his letters, ed. by M. Kalbeck (1909), Life and Letters (1997), S. Avins, ed.; biographies by H. Gal (tr. 1963, repr. 1977), K. Geiringer (3d ed. 1981), and J. Swafford (1997); studies by B. James (1972) and G. S. Bozarth (1989).

 
Fine Arts Dictionary: Brahms, Johannes
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(brahmz)

A nineteenth-century German romantic composer (see romanticism); his works include symphonies, concertos, chamber music, songs, and A German Requiem, a piece for soloists, chorus, and orchestra.

  • Brahms's “Lullaby” is a beloved short work. The words often sung to it begin, “Lullaby, and good night.”

  •  
    Wikipedia: Johannes Brahms
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    Johannes Brahms

    Johannes Brahms (pronounced [joːˈhanəs ˈbʁaːms]) (May 7, 1833 – April 3, 1897), German composer and pianist, was one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene. In his lifetime, Brahms's popularity and influence were considerable; following a comment by the nineteenth century conductor Hans von Bülow, he is sometimes grouped with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven as one of the Three Bs.

    Brahms composed for piano, for chamber ensembles, for symphony orchestra, and for voice and chorus. An accomplished pianist, he gave the first performance of many of his own works; he also worked with the leading performers of his time, including the virtuoso pianist Clara Schumann and the violinist Joseph Joachim. Many of his works have become staples of modern concert repertoire. Brahms, an uncompromising perfectionist, destroyed many works and left some unpublished.

    Brahms was at once a traditionalist and an innovator. His music is firmly rooted in the structures and compositional techniques of the Baroque and classical masters. He was a master of counterpoint, the complex and highly disciplined method of composition for which Bach is famous. Yet within these structures, Brahms created bold new approaches to harmony and timbre which challenged existing notions of tonal music. His contribution and craftsmanship has been admired by subsequent figures as diverse as Arnold Schoenberg and Edward Elgar. Brahms's works were a starting point and an inspiration for a generation of composers, including Schoenberg, who eventually abandoned tonality.

    Contents

    Life

    Early years

    Brahms's father, Johann Jakob Brahms, came to Hamburg from Dithmarschen, seeking a career as a town musician. He was proficient on several instruments, but found employment mostly playing the horn and double bass. He married Johanna Henrika Christiane Nissen, a seamstress, who was seventeen years older than he was. Initially, they lived near the city docks, in the Gängeviertel quarter of Hamburg, for six months before moving to a small house on the Dammtorwall, located on the northern perimeter of Hamburg in the Inner Alster.

    Photograph from 1891 of the building in Hamburg where Brahms was born. Brahms's family occupied part of the first floor, behind the two double windows on the left hand side.

    Johann Jakob gave his son his first musical training. He studied piano from the age of seven with Otto Friedrich Willibald Cossel. It is a long-told tale that Brahms was forced in his early teens to play the piano in bars that doubled as brothels; recently Brahms scholar Kurt Hoffman has suggested that this legend is false. Since Brahms himself clearly originated the story,[citation needed] however, some have questioned Hoffman's theory.[1][2] Brahms's recently published letters also put paid to this story. The places he played were working-class restaurants in a then respectable area of Hamburg that only later became a slum.[3]

    For a time, Brahms also learned the cello.[4] After his early piano lessons with Otto Cossel, Brahms studied piano with Eduard Marxsen, who had studied in Vienna with Ignaz von Seyfried (a pupil of Mozart) and Carl Maria von Bocklet (a close friend of Schubert). The young Brahms gave a few public concerts in Hamburg, but did not become well known as a pianist until he made a concert tour at the age of nineteen. In later life, he frequently took part in the performance of his own works, whether as soloist, accompanist, or participant in chamber music. He was the soloist at the premieres of both his Piano Concerto No. 1 in 1859 and his Piano Concerto No. 2 in 1881. He conducted choirs from his early teens, and became a proficient choral and orchestral conductor.

    Meeting Joachim and Liszt

    He began to compose quite early in life, but later destroyed most copies of his first works; for instance, Louise Japha, a fellow-pupil of Marxsen, reported a piano sonata that Brahms had played or improvised at the age of 11. His compositions did not receive public acclaim until he went on a concert tour as accompanist to the Hungarian violinist Eduard Reményi in April and May 1853. On this tour he met Joseph Joachim at Hanover, and went on to the Court of Weimar where he met Franz Liszt, Peter Cornelius, and Joachim Raff. According to several witnesses of Brahms' meeting with Liszt (at which Liszt performed Brahms' Scherzo, Op. 4 at sight), Reményi was offended by Brahms' failure to praise Liszt's Sonata in B minor wholeheartedly (Brahms supposedly fell asleep during a performance of the recently composed work), and they parted company shortly afterwards. Brahms later excused himself, saying that he could not help it, having been exhausted by his travels.

    Brahms in 1853

    Brahms and Schumann

    Joachim had given Brahms a letter of introduction to Robert Schumann, and after a walking tour in the Rhineland Brahms took the train to Düsseldorf, and was welcomed into the Schumann family on arrival there. Schumann, amazed by the 20 year-old's talent, published an article entitled "Neue Bahnen" (New Paths) in the October 28, 1853 issue of the journal Neue Zeitschrift für Musik alerting the public to the young man who he claimed was "destined to give ideal expression to the times."[5] This pronouncement was received with some skepticism outside Schumann's immediate circle, and may have increased Brahms' naturally self-critical need to perfect his works and technique. While he was in Düsseldorf, Brahms participated with Schumann and Albert Dietrich in writing a sonata for Joachim; this is known as the F-A-E Sonata. He became very attached to Schumann's wife, the composer and pianist Clara, fourteen years his senior, with whom he would carry on a lifelong, emotionally passionate, but probably platonic, relationship. Brahms never married, despite strong feelings for several women and despite entering into an engagement, soon broken off, with Agathe von Siebold in Göttingen in 1859. After Schumann's attempted suicide and subsequent confinement in a mental sanatorium near Bonn in February 1854, Brahms was the main intercessor between Clara and her husband, and found himself virtually head of the household.

    Detmold and Hamburg

    After Schumann's death at the sanatorium in 1856, Brahms divided his time between Hamburg, where he formed and conducted a ladies' choir, and the principality of Detmold, where he was court music-teacher and conductor. He first visited Vienna in 1862, staying there over the winter, and in 1863 was appointed conductor of the Vienna Singakademie. Though he resigned the position the following year and entertained the idea of taking up conducting posts elsewhere, he based himself increasingly in Vienna and soon made his home there. From 1872 to 1875 he was director of the concerts of the Vienna Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde; afterwards he accepted no formal position. He declined an honorary doctorate of music from University of Cambridge in 1877, but accepted one from the University of Breslau in 1879, and composed the Academic Festival Overture as a gesture of appreciation.

    He had been composing steadily throughout the 1850s and 60s, but his music had evoked divided critical responses and the Piano Concerto No. 1 had been badly received in some of its early performances. His works were labelled old-fashioned by the 'New German School' whose principal figures included Liszt and Richard Wagner. Brahms admired some of Wagner's music and admired Liszt as a great pianist, but the conflict between the two schools, known as the War of the Romantics, soon embroiled all of musical Europe. In the Brahms camp were his close friends: Clara Schumann, the influential music critic Eduard Hanslick and the leading Viennese surgeon Theodor Billroth. In 1860 Brahms attempted to organise a public protest against some of the wilder excesses of their music. This took the form of a manifesto, written by Brahms and Joachim jointly. The manifesto, which was published prematurely with only three supporting signatures, was a failure and he never engaged in public polemics again[6].

    Years of popularity

    It was the premiere of A German Requiem, his largest choral work, in Bremen in 1868 that confirmed Brahms's European reputation and led many to accept that he had fulfilled Schumann's prophecy. This may have given him the confidence finally to complete a number of works that he had wrestled with over many years, such as the cantata Rinaldo, his first string quartet, third piano quartet, and most notably his first symphony. This appeared in 1876, though it had been begun (and a version of the first movement seen by some of his friends) in the early 1860s. The other three symphonies then followed in 1877, 1883, and 1885. From 1881 he was able to try out his new orchestral works with the court orchestra of the Duke of Meiningen, whose conductor was Hans von Bülow.

    Brahms frequently traveled, for both business (concert tours) and pleasure. From 1878 onwards he often visited Italy in the springtime, and usually sought out a pleasant rural location in which to compose during the summer. He was a great walker and especially enjoyed spending time in the open air, where he felt that he could think more clearly.

    In 1889, one Theo Wangemann, a representative of American inventor Thomas Edison visited the composer in Vienna and invited him to make an experimental recording. He played an abbreviated version of his first Hungarian dance on the piano. The recording was later issued on an LP of early piano performances (compiled by Gregor Benko); while the spoken introduction to the short piece of music is quite clear, the piano playing is largely inaudible due to heavy surface noise. Nevertheless, this remains the earliest recording made by a major composer. Analysts and scholars remain divided, however, as to whether the voice that introduces the piece is that of Wangemann or of Brahms.[7]

    In 1889 Brahms was named an honorary citizen of Hamburg, until 1948 the only one born in Hamburg. [8]

    Brahms' grave in the Zentralfriedhof (Central Cemetery), Vienna.

    Later years

    In 1890, the 57 year-old Brahms resolved to give up composing. However, as it turned out, he was unable to abide by his decision, and in the years before his death he produced a number of acknowledged masterpieces. His admiration for Richard Mühlfeld, clarinetist with the Meiningen orchestra, moved him to compose the Clarinet Trio Op. 114, Clarinet Quintet Op. 115 (1891), and the two Clarinet Sonatas Op. 120 (1894). He also wrote several cycles of piano pieces, Opp. 116-119, the Four Serious Songs (Vier ernste Gesänge), Op. 121 (1896), and the Eleven Chorale Preludes for organ, Op. 122 (1896).

    While completing the Op. 121 songs, Brahms developed cancer (sources differ on whether this was of the liver or pancreas). His condition gradually worsened and he died on April 3, 1897. Brahms is buried in the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna.

    Music of Brahms

    Works

    Brahms wrote a number of major works for orchestra, including two serenades, four symphonies, two piano concertos (No. 1 in D minor; No. 2 in B flat major), a Violin Concerto, a Double Concerto for violin and cello, and two orchestral overtures, the Academic Festival Overture and the Tragic Overture.

    His large choral work A German Requiem is not a setting of the liturgical Missa pro defunctis, but a setting of texts which Brahms selected from the Lutheran Bible. The work was composed in three major periods of his life. An early version of the second movement was first composed in 1854, not long after Robert Schumann's attempted suicide, and this was later used in his first piano concerto. The majority of the Requiem was composed after his mother's death in 1865. The fifth movement was added after the official premiere in 1868, and the work was published in 1869.

    Brahms's works in variation form include the Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel and the Paganini Variations, both for solo piano, and the Variations on a Theme by Haydn in versions for two pianos and for orchestra. The final movement of the Fourth Symphony (Op. 98) is formally a passacaglia.

    His chamber works include three string quartets, two string quintets and two string sextets, a clarinet quintet, a clarinet trio, a horn trio, a piano quintet, three piano quartets and four piano trios (the fourth being "opus posthumous"). He composed several instrumental sonatas with piano, including three for violin, two for cello and two for clarinet (which were subsequently arranged for viola by the composer). His solo piano works range from his early piano sonatas and ballades to his late sets of character pieces. Brahms was a significant Lieder composer, who wrote over 200 songs. His chorale preludes for organ op. 122, which he wrote shortly before his death, have become an important part of the organist's repertoire.

    Brahms strongly preferred writing absolute music that does not refer to an explicit scene or narrative, and he never wrote an opera or a symphonic poem.

    Despite his reputation as a serious composer of large, complex musical structures, some of Brahms's most widely known and most commercially successful compositions during his life were small-scale works of popular intent aimed at the thriving contemporary market for domestic music-making; indeed, during the 20th century the influential American critic B. H. Haggin, rejecting more mainstream views, argued in his various guides to recorded music that Brahms was at his best in such works and much less successful in larger forms. Among the most cherished of these lighter works by Brahms are his sets of popular dances—the Hungarian Dances, the Waltzes Op. 39 for piano duet, and the Liebeslieder Waltzes for vocal quartet and piano—and some of his many songs, notably the Wiegenlied, Op. 49 No. 4 (published in 1868). This last was written (to a folk text) to celebrate the birth of a son to Brahms' friend Bertha Faber and is universally known as Brahms' Lullaby.

    Style and influences

    Brahms maintained a Classical sense of form and order in his works – in contrast to the opulence of the music of many of his contemporaries. Thus many admirers (though not necessarily Brahms himself) saw him as the champion of traditional forms and "pure music," as opposed to the New German embrace of programme music.

    Brahms venerated Beethoven: in the composer's home, a marble bust of Beethoven looked down on the spot where he composed, and some passages in his works are reminiscent of Beethoven's style. The main theme of the finale of Brahms's First Symphony is reminiscent of the main theme of the finale of Beethoven's Ninth, and when this resemblance was pointed out to Brahms he replied that any ass – jeder Esel – could see that.

    A German Requiem was partially inspired by his mother's death in 1865, but also incorporates material from a Symphony he started in 1854, but abandoned following Schumann's suicide attempt. He once wrote that the Requiem "belonged to Schumann". The first movement of this abandoned Symphony was re-worked as the first movement of the First Piano Concerto.

    Brahms also loved the Classical composers Mozart and Haydn. He collected first editions and autographs of their works, and edited performing editions. He also studied the music of pre-classical composers, including Giovanni Gabrieli, Johann Adolph Hasse, Heinrich Schütz and especially Johann Sebastian Bach. His friends included leading musicologists, and with Friedrich Chrysander he edited an edition of the works of François Couperin. He looked to older music for inspiration in the arts of strict counterpoint; the themes of some of his works are modelled on Baroque sources, such as Bach's The Art of Fugue in the fugal finale of Cello Sonata No. 1, or the same composer's Cantata No. 150 in the passacaglia theme of the Fourth Symphony's finale.

    The early Romantic composers also had a major influence on Brahms, particularly Schumann who encouraged Brahms as a young composer. Brahms often met Robert and Clara Schumann. During his stay in Vienna in 1862-3, Brahms became particularly interested in the music of Franz Schubert.[9] The latter's influence may be identified in works by Brahms dating from the period, such as the two piano quartets Op. 25 and Op. 26, and the Piano Quintet which alludes to Schubert's String Quintet and Grand Duo for piano four hands.[10][9] There is less evidence for influence of Chopin and Mendelssohn on Brahms, although occasionally one can find in his works what seems to be an allusion to one of their works (for example, Brahms's Scherzo, Op. 4 alludes to Chopin's Scherzo in B-flat minor;[11] the scherzo movement in Brahms's Piano Sonata in F minor, Op. 5 alludes to the finale of Mendelssohn's Piano Trio in C minor[12]).

    Brahms considered giving up composition when it seemed that other composers' innovations in extended tonality would result in the rule of tonality being broken altogether. Although Wagner became fiercely critical of Brahms as the latter grew in stature and popularity, he was enthusiastically receptive of the early Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel; Brahms himself, according to many sources (Swafford, 1999), deeply admired Wagner's music, confining his ambivalence only to the dramaturgical precepts of Wagner's theory.

    Brahms wrote settings for piano and voice of 144 German folk songs, and many of his lieder reflect folk themes or depict scenes of rural life. His Hungarian dances were among his most profitable compositions.

    Although Brahms's religious views are not clear, one of his greatest influences was the Bible. He read especially Luther's translation. His "Requiem" employs biblical texts to convey a humanist message, and focus on the living rather than the dead. Author Walter Niemann declared, "The fact that Brahms began his creative activity with the German folk song and closed with the Bible reveals...the true religious creed of this great man of the people." Others see Brahms as more of a cultural Lutheran who embraced the cultural aspects of his upbringing but may or may not have adopted the religious beliefs.[13]

    Writing in The New Oxford Companion to Music, Denis Arnold concludes, '...his appeal to musicians lies in the quality of his craftsmanship. His wider appeal surely lies in the essential conflict between the depth of emotion so often evident yet hidden behind his natural reserve. ...'

    Influence

    Brahms's point of view looked both backward and forward; his output was often bold in its exploration of harmony and rhythm. As a result he was an influence on composers of both conservative and modernist tendencies. Within his lifetime his idiom left an imprint on several composers within his personal circle who were strong admirers of his music, such as Heinrich von Herzogenberg, Robert Fuchs, and Julius Röntgen, as well as on Gustav Jenner, who was Brahms's only formal composition pupil. Antonín Dvořák, who received substantial assistance from Brahms, deeply admired his music and was influenced by it in several works such as the D minor Symphony, Op. 70 and the F minor Piano Trio, Op. 65. Features of the 'Brahms style' were absorbed in a more complex synthesis with other contemporary (chiefly Wagnerian) trends by Hans Rott, Wilhelm Berger and Max Reger, while the British composers Parry and Elgar, and the Swede Wilhelm Stenhammar all testified to learning much from Brahms's example. It was Elgar who said, "I look at the Third Symphony of Brahms and I feel like a pygmy."[14] Ferruccio Busoni's early music shows much Brahmsian influence, and Brahms took an interest in him, though Busoni later tended to disparage Brahms. Towards the end of his life Brahms offered substantial encouragement to Ernö Dohnányi, and also to Alexander Zemlinsky. Their early chamber works (and those of Béla Bartók, who was friendly with Dohnányi) show a thoroughgoing absorption of the Brahmsian idiom. Zemlinsky, moreover, was in turn the teacher of Arnold Schoenberg, and Brahms was apparently impressed by two movements of Schoenberg's early Quartet in D major which Zemlinsky showed him. In 1933 Schoenberg wrote an essay "Brahms the Progressive" (re-written 1947) which drew attention to Brahms's fondness for motivic saturation and irregularities of rhythm and phrase; in his last book (Structural Functions of Harmony, 1948) he analysed Brahms's 'enriched harmony' and exploration of remote tonal regions. These efforts paved the way for a re-evaluation of Brahms's reputation in the 20th century. Schoenberg went so far as to orchestrate one of Brahms's piano quartets. Schoenberg's pupil Anton Webern, in his 1933 lectures posthumously published under the title The Path to the New Music, claimed Brahms as one who had anticipated the developments of the Second Viennese School, and Webern's own Op. 1, an orchestral passacaglia, is clearly in part a homage to and development of the variation techniques of the passacaglia-finale of Brahms's Fourth Symphony.

    Brahms was honoured by the German Hall of Fame, the Walhalla temple. On 14 September 2000 he was introduced there as 126th "rühmlich ausgezeichneter Teutscher" and 13th composer among them, with a bust by sculptor Milan Knobloch.[15]

    Personality

    Like Beethoven, Brahms was fond of nature and often went walking in the woods around Vienna. He often brought penny candy with him to hand out to children. To adults Brahms was often brusque and sarcastic, and he sometimes alienated other people. His pupil Gustav Jenner wrote, "Brahms has acquired, not without reason, the reputation for being a grump, even though few could also be as lovable as he.[16]" He also had predictable habits which were noted by the Viennese press such as his daily visit to his favourite "Red Hedgehog" tavern in Vienna and the press also particularly took into account his style of walking with his hands firmly behind his back complete with a caricature of him in this pose walking alongside a red hedgehog. Those who remained his friends were very loyal to him, however, and he reciprocated with equal loyalty and generosity.

    Johann Strauss II (left) and Johannes Brahms (right) photographed in Vienna

    Brahms was a lifelong friend of Johann Strauss II though they were very different as composers. Brahms even struggled to get to the Theater an der Wien in Vienna for the premiere of Strauss's operetta Die Göttin der Vernunft in 1897 before his death. Perhaps the greatest tribute that Brahms could pay to Strauss was his remark that he would have given anything to have written The Blue Danube waltz. An anecdote dating around the time Brahms became acquainted with Strauss is that when Strauss's wife Adele asked Brahms to autograph her fan, he wrote a few notes from the "Blue Danube" waltz, and then cheekily inscribed the words "Alas, not by Brahms!"

    Starting in the 1860s, when his works sold widely, Brahms was financially quite successful. He preferred a modest life style, however, living in a simple three-room apartment with a housekeeper. He gave away much of his money to relatives, and anonymously helped support a number of young musicians.

    Brahms was an extreme perfectionist. He destroyed many early works — including a Violin Sonata he performed with Reményi and violinist Ferdinand David — and once claimed to have destroyed 20 string quartets before he issued his official First in 1873. Over the course of several years, he changed an original project for a Symphony in D minor into a piano concerto, his first. In another instance of devotion to detail, he labored over the official First Symphony for almost fifteen years, from about 1861 to 1876. Even after its first few performances, Brahms destroyed the original slow movement and substituted another before the score was published. (A conjectural restoration of the original slow movement has been published by Robert Pascall.) Another factor that contributed to Brahms's perfectionism was that Schumann had announced early on that Brahms was to become the next great composer like Beethoven, a prediction that Brahms was determined to live up to. This prediction hardly added to the composer's self-confidence, and may have contributed to the delay in producing the First Symphony. However, Clara Schumann noted before that Brahms's First Symphony was a product that was not reflective of Brahms's real nature. She felt that the final exuberant movement was "too brilliant," as she was encouraged by the dark and tempestuous opening movement she had seen in an early draft. However, she recanted in accepting the Second Symphony, which has often been seen in modern times as one of his sunniest works. Other contemporaries, however, found the first movement especially dark, and Reinhold Brinkmann, in a study of Symphony No. 2 in relation to 19th century ideas of melancholy, has published a revealing letter from Brahms to the composer and conductor Vinzenz Lachner in which Brahms confesses to the melancholic side of his nature and comments on specific features of the movement that reflect this.

    Media

    Audio files of the German Requiem, Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Variations on a Theme by Haydn, and Waltzes Op. 39, can be found at their respective articles.

    Intermezzo in C major, Op. 119, No. 3
    Ossip Gabrilowitsch plays for Welte-Mignon on July 4, 1905.
    Hungarian Dance No. 5
    Arthur Nikisch plays for Welte-Mignon on February 9, 1906
    Intermezzo Op. 116 No. 4
    Intermezzo Op. 76 No. 7
    Brahms's Intermezzo Op. 76, No. 7, is representative of his middle works for piano
    Schicksalslied
    Hungarian Dance No. 5 in G minor
    Hungarian Dance No. 6 in D major
    Sonata for Two Pianos in F minor, 1st movement
    Performed by Neal and Nancy O'Doan
    Sonata for Two Pianos in F minor, 2nd movement
    Performed by Neal and Nancy O'Doan
    Sonata for Two Pianos in F minor, 3rd movement
    Performed by Neal and Nancy O'Doan
    Sonata for Two Pianos in F minor, 4th movement
    Performed by Neal and Nancy O'Doan
    Wondrous cool
    (3.6 Mb)
    Rhapsody in B minor - Op. 79 No. 1
    Double Concerto in A minor, 2nd movement
    Double Concerto in A minor, 3rd movement
    Cello Sonata in E minor, 2nd movement
    Cello Sonata in F, opus 99, 1st movement
    Cello Sonata in F, opus 99, 2nd movement
    Cello Sonata in F, opus 99, 3rd movement
    Cello Sonata in F, opus 99, 4th movement
    Chaconne for piano with left hand only
    transcription of the Chaconne from J. S. Bach's Solo Violin Partita 2, BWV 1004
    Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80
    Performed by the Skidmore College Orchestra. Courtesy of Musopen
    Concerto in A minor, Op. 102 'Double Concerto' - I. Allegro
    Performed by the Skidmore College Orchestra. Courtesy of Musopen
    Concerto in A minor, Op. 102 'Double Concerto' - II. Andante
    Performed by the Skidmore College Orchestra. Courtesy of Musopen
    Concerto in A minor, Op. 102 'Double Concerto' - II. Vivace non Troppo
    Performed by the Skidmore College Orchestra. Courtesy of Musopen
    klavierstucke, op. 118 - ii. intermezzo
    Performed by Carlos Gardels. Courtesy of Musopen
    Clarinet Quintet - 1. Allegro
    Performed by William McColl and the Orford String Quartet
    Clarinet Quintet - 2. Adagio
    Performed by William McColl and the Orford String Quartet
    Clarinet Quintet - 3. Andantino
    Performed by William McColl and the Orford String Quartet
    Clarinet Quintet - 4. Con Moto
    Performed by William McColl and the Orford String Quartet
    Piano Quartet in G minor - 1. Allegro
    Performed by Roxana Pavel Goldstein (violin), Elias Goldstein (viola), Stephen Balderston (cello), and Mathew Ganong (piano)
    Piano Quartet in G minor - 2. Allegro, ma non troppo
    Performed by Roxana Pavel Goldstein (violin), Elias Goldstein (viola), Stephen Balderston (cello), and Mathew Ganong (piano)
    Piano Quartet in G minor - 3. Andante con Moto
    Performed by Roxana Pavel Goldstein (violin), Elias Goldstein (viola), Stephen Balderston (cello), and Mathew Ganong (piano)
    Piano Quartet in G minor - 4. Presto, Rondo alla Zingarese
    Performed by Roxana Pavel Goldstein (violin), Elias Goldstein (viola), Stephen Balderston (cello), and Mathew Ganong (piano)

    Further reading

    • Johannes Brahms: Life and Letters, ISBN 0-19-816234-0 by Brahms himself, edited by Styra Avins, translated by Josef Eisinger (1998). A biography by way of comprehensive footnotes to a comprehensive collection of Brahms' letters (some translated into English for the first time). Elucidates some previously contentious matters, such as Brahms' reasons for declining the Cambridge invitation.
    • Brahms, His Life and Work, by Karl Geiringer, photographs by Irene Geiringer (1987, ISBN 0-306-80223-6). A biog and discussion of his musical output, supplemented by and cross-referenced with the body of correspondence sent to Brahms.
    • Charles Rosen discusses a number of Brahms's imitations of Beethoven in Chapter 9 of his Critical Entertainments: Music Old and New (2000; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, ISBN 0-674-17730-4).
    • Brahms by Malcolm MacDonald is a biography and also discussion of virtually everything Brahms composed, along with chapters examining his position in Romantic music, his devotion to Early Music, and his influence on later composers. (Dent 'Master Musicians' series, 1990; 2nd edition Oxford, 2001, ISBN 0-19-816484-X
    • Johannes Brahms: A Biography, by Jan Swafford. A comprehensive (752 pages) look at the life and works of Brahms. (1999; Vintage, ISBN 0-679-74582-3)
    • Late Idyll: The Second Symphony of Johannes Brahms, by Reinhold Brinkmann, translated by Peter Palmer. An analysis of Symphony No.2 and meditation of its position in Brahms' career and in relation to 19th century ideas of melancholy. (1995, Harvard, ISBN 0-674-51175-1)

    References

    1. ^ Kurt Hoffman, Johannes Brahms und Hamburg (Reinbek, 1986) (in German: includes detailed refutation of the traditional story of Brahms playing piano in brothels, using the writings of those who knew the young Brahms, as well as evidence of the Hamburg's close regulation of those places, preventing the employment of children)
    2. ^ Swafford, Jan (2001). "Did the Young Brahms Play Piano in Waterfront Bars?". 19th-century Music Vol. 24 (No. 3): pp. 268–275. doi:10.1525/ncm.2001.24.3.268. http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0148-2076(200121)24%3A3%3C268%3ADTYBPP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-H. Retrieved on 2007-10-30. 
    3. ^ Unearthing Johannes, Robert Kameczura
    4. ^ p. 9, Hoffmann (1999) Kurt. "Brahms the Hamburg musician 1833—1863" Cambridge. Musgrave (editor) Michael The Cambridge Companion to Brahms Cambridge University Press
    5. ^ "Robert Schumann's Artikel Neue Bahnen". http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/brahms_bahnen.html. Retrieved on 2007-10-30. 
    6. ^ Swafford, Johannes Brahms, pp 206-211
    7. ^ J. Brahms plays excerpt of Hungarian Dance No. 1 (2:10) at YouTube
    8. ^ Stadt Hamburg Ehrenbürger (German) Retrieved on June 17, 2008
    9. ^ a b James Webster, "Schubert's sonata form and Brahms' first maturity (II)", 19th-century Music 3(1) (1979), pp. 52-71.
    10. ^ Donald Francis Tovey, "Franz Schubert" (1927), rpt. in Essays and Lectures on Music (London, 1949), p. 123. Cf. his similar remarks in "Tonality in Schubert" (1928), rpt. ibid., p. 151.
    11. ^ Charles Rosen, "Influence: plagiarism and inspiration", 19th-century Music 4(2) (1980), pp. 87-100.
    12. ^ H. V. Spanner, "What is originality?", The Musical Times 93(1313) (1952), pp. 310-311.
    13. ^ Beller-McKenna, Daniel. Brahms and the German Spirit. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. 2004, ISBN 0-674-01318-2
    14. ^ MacDonald, Brahms (1990), p. 406.
    15. ^ "Johannes Brahms hält Einzug in die Walhalla". Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst. 2000-09-14. http://www.stmwfk.bayern.de/pressearchiv/2000/09/sept124.html. Retrieved on 2008-04-23. 
    16. ^ Brahms as Man, Teacher, and Artist

    External links

    Sheet music

    Recordings



     
     

     

    Copyrights:

    Who2 Biography. Copyright © 1998-2008 by Who2, LLC. All rights reserved. See the Johannes Brahms biography from Who2.  Read more
    Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ® , a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
    Music Encyclopedia. The Concise Grove Dictionary of Music. Copyright © 1994 by Oxford University Press, Inc.. All rights reserved.  Read more
    Biography. © 2006 through a partnership of Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.  Read more
    Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
    Dictionary of Dance. The Oxford Dictionary of Dance. Copyright © 2000, 2004 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more
    German Literature Companion. The Oxford Companion to German Literature. Copyright © 1976, 1986, 1997, 2005 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more
    Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/  Read more
    Fine Arts Dictionary. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.  Read more
    Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Johannes Brahms" Read more