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Johannes Brahms, the composer of A German
Requiem, four symphonies, four concertos, and many songs,
piano pieces, and chamber works, was one of the seminal musical
figures of the 19th century. Opera was the only major musical
medium in which he did not write.
Brahms was born in Hamburg, Germany, on May 7, 1833. He first
studied music with his father, a double-bass player for the
Hamburg opera; subsequently he studied composition with Eduard
Marxsen. Brahms was a talented pianist, giving his first public
recital at the age of 14, and making a living by playing in
taverns and dance halls.
On a concert tour in 1853 as accompanist for the Hungarian
violinist Eduard Remenyi, Brahms met Franz LISZT, who praised
the 20-year-old's Scherzo in E Flat Minor and his piano sonatas.
Brahms, however, never became personally friendly with Liszt,
and in 1860 he signed a manifesto attacking the so-called
Music of the Future, which Liszt championed. More fruitful
for Brahms was his meeting with Robert SCHUMANN, who hailed
the young composer as the coming genius of German music and
arranged for the publication of his first SONGS and piano
SONATAS. Schumann died in 1856, and Brahms remained a devoted
friend of his widow, Clara Wieck SCHUMANN, until her death
in 1896. Brahms never married, although he had a large circle
of friends and patrons.
After Brahms was rejected for a post as conductor in Hamburg
in 1862, he visited Vienna and later (1868) made his home
there. The compositions written before his first visit to
Vienna include several piano works--of which the "Edward"
ballade is the most famous--the two serenades for orchestra,
his first piano CONCERTO, and the Piano Trio in B Major.
BRAHMS IN VIENNA
Brahms's work as a choral conductor in Vienna prepared him
for the composition of A German Requiem, based on biblical
texts rather than on the Roman Catholic requiem mass; it was
first performed on Good Friday (April 10), 1868, in the cathedral
of Bremen. Brahms's other major works from this period include
the Piano Quintet in F Minor; the Magelone Romances based
on poems by Ludwig Tieck; two piano quartets; and the trio
for piano, violin, and French horn.
Brahms conducted the orchestra of the Society of the Friends
of Music in Vienna from 1872 to 1875, after which he devoted
himself entirely to composition. His conducting experience
undoubtedly influenced his return to orchestral composition,
marked by his first two symphonies (C minor and D major),
his monumental violin concerto and second piano concerto,
and two concert overtures--the Tragic and the jovial Academic
Festival, based on student songs and written to celebrate
an honorary doctorate awarded him by the University of Breslau
in 1879. During this period Brahms did not neglect song or
chamber music, although the number of his piano compositions
diminished after he wrote Variations on a Theme by Handel
(1862). During the 1880s, Brahms wrote his third (F major)
and fourth (E minor) symphonies; the double concerto (A minor)
for violin, cello, and orchestra; and choral works, chamber
music, and songs.
Brahms made his will in 1891 and then embarked with renewed
vigor on the composition of many of his best works. He returned
to writing for the piano, creating in his short capriccios,
ballades, and intermezzos a musical testament that sums up
the musical achievements of German romanticism. During these
years Brahms became friends with the clarinetist Richard Muhlfeld
and wrote the finest works ever composed for the clarinet:
two sonatas, the quintet for clarinet and string quartet,
and the trio for clarinet, cello, and piano. Brahms's last
two compositions were religious in nature: the Four Serious
Songs on biblical texts, and the set of chorale preludes for
organ. These works were published after Brahms died in Vienna
on April 3, 1897.
SIGNIFICANCE
Brahms, more than any other composer of the second half of
the 19th century, was responsible for reviving what is termed
"absolute" music--compositions to be accepted on
their own terms as interplays of sound rather than as works
that depict a scene or tell a story (program music). Brahms
was a master of the compositional craft. He often used established
techniques, such as COUNTERPOINT, especially in his sets of
variations, but in such novel and refreshing ways that the
listener first perceives the beauty and strength of the music
and only later becomes aware of the composer's technical mastery.
Brahms's love of German folk song gave his music a sturdy
Teutonic character. Although most of his music is serious,
his intimate folk-song settings and his dazzling Hungarian-style
finales, such as in the G Minor Piano Quartet or in the double
concerto, reveal lighter sides of his musical personality.
His choral music includes the finest Protestant church music
since that of Bach, and in his LIEDER (songs) he created the
perfect partnership for voice and piano, although he selected
many undeserving texts for them. His piano writing is more
difficult than it sounds; hence, these works appeal to pianists
who are more concerned with musicality than with virtuosity.
Brahms's legacy of musical craftsmanship is evident in the
works of Max REGER and Paul HINDEMITH.
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