- Biography
- Brahms Lullaby
- Four Ballades
- The Hungarian Dances
- Waltz No. 15
- Symphony No. 1
- A German Requiem
- Symphony No. 2
- The Academic Festival Overture
- Piano Concerto No.2
- Symphony No. 3
- Symphony No. 4
- Clarinet Quintet in B Minor
Biography
Brahms’s talents were recognised very early in his life.
His father was a musician, playing the french horn in the militia band in Hamburg and the double bass in ad hoc groups that performed in taverns and at various social functions in and around the city.
The first musical training young Brahms received was in the form of piano lessons, and by the age of ten he was quite obviously showing signs of possessing an extraordinary talent.
An American impresario who was in Hamburg at the time was extremely taken with him and immediately proposed a big tour of the United States, but this was wisely refused by his teacher.
Responsibility for Brahms’s future development and tuition was then handed over to the highly respected Eduard Marxsen, who later became his mentor.
Brahms left school at the age of fifteen in order to earn some money.
He did occasional concerts but also worked for publishers, arranging popular music of the day.
In 1853, when Brahms was twenty, the Hungarian violinist Eduard Reményi offered him the opportunity of making a tour giving concerts together, and this proved to be the big turning point in the composer’s career.
Through meeting up with various celebrated musicians and people with influence, such as Joachim and Franz Liszt, Brahms eventually met Robert and Clara Schumann.
Robert Schumann was someone whom he held in the highest regard, and his wife Clara was also an extremely gifted pianist.
They both loved Brahms’s work and soon all three became very close friends.
Robert Schumann was not of stable health and his mental breakdown in 1854 came as no surprise to those who knew him well.
It was at this point that Brahms showed his deep concern for the Schumann family, and he was at Clara’s side throughout this very difficult period in her life.
When Robert Schumann eventually died in 1856, Brahms made it known that he was very much in love with Clara, but although the bond was never to be broken they decided not to spend their lives together.
This had a significant effect on Brahms’s music: in nearly all of the pieces from this time on there is quite clearly a mood of heartfelt emotional yearning, giving the works an intensity that has rarely been equalled by other composers.
Despite occasional ups and downs, Brahms’s career was very successful.
He eventually settled in Vienna, where he established a fine reputation both as a conductor of the great classical masterpieces and as a composer.
The works that really established him on the international scene were the German Requiem and the Alto Rhapsody.
He then went on to write the four symphonies, the two piano concertos and a marvellous collection of chamber music, piano pieces and songs.
Brahms became quite a rich man in his later years and although he was not one to flaunt his wealth he very much enjoyed the good life – holidays in villas throughout Europe with celebrated friends and acquaintances, smoking expensive cigars and eating well.
He had a tendency to find very young girls attractive and at one time was deeply smitten with the Schumann’s third daughter, Julie, although it was quite obvious that he was never going to forget his former love, Clara.
Clara died in 1896 and while this didn’t come as a great shock to Brahms he was deeply affected by her death.
His own health deteriorated and on seeking medical advice he found out that he had an advanced state of cancer of the liver, from which he died just one year later.
Brahms has become one of the best-loved composers of romantic music.
All of his works are beautifully crafted – from the piano miniatures and songs to the extravagantly architectured symphonies and great choral works.
The most endearing aspect of his music is the lovely, reflective, autumnal, yearning quality to the later chamber music, and more than one hearing is recommended.
Brahms Lullaby
Cradle Song (‘Brahms Lullaby’)
Keyboard Works
One of the most famous lullabies in the world, the ‘Cradle Song’ is a delightful piano piece that has been arranged for many different instruments.
Four Ballades
Four Ballades Op. 10: No. 3
Keyboard Works
Brahms will always be remembered not just for his music, but also for his forbidden love of his friend Robert Schumann’s wife, Clara. Much his music was written (albeit secretly) for her, including these four Ballades for piano. The mood of the music is neither happy nor sad, as if the composer had given up his hope, but not his longing.
The Hungarian Dances
Orchestral
Altogether Brahms wrote twenty-one Hungarian Dances for piano duet, all based on folk themes of the country. He arranged three of the for orchestra, of which the first is the most famous. It is in a full-blooded gypsy style that was used to great effect in a hilarious shaving scene in the film ‘The Great Dictator’
Waltz No. 15
**Waltz No. 15, Op. 39 **
Keyboard Works
Close in sound to Schumann’s piano music, this is a gentle and wistful piano waltz.
Symphony No. 1
Symphony No. 1 in C Minor Op. 68: Un poco sostenuto
1876, Symphonies, Orchestral
Brahms’s early friends and admirers always felt that he was a born symphony writer – much against Brahms’s own view of himself, who once said to a friend:
’ I shall never write a symphony. You have no idea how the likes of us feel when we hear the tramp of a giant like him behind us.’
By ‘him’, Brahms was referring to Beethoven, of whom the young composer was in great awe. At the age of twenty-one, Brahms first heard Beethoven’s stunning Ninth Symphony and was so deeply moved that he tried to write a symphony himself in the same key; he struggled for some time before giving up. Eventually, in 1862, some friends saw an early version of the first movement and were surprised at its storminess.
It is thought that this mood stems from Brahms’s emotional conflict between his admiration for his friend Robert Schumann, and his deep love for Schumann’s wife, Clara. Whatever the reasons, it was fourteen years later, in 1876, before the work was first performed.
As described, the first movement (Allegro) is a powerful display of musical emotion, with pounding kettle drums backing themes that soar and dive. It differs only in pace from the second movement (Andante), which is equally passionate, with occasional plaintive interludes from the woodwinds.
The third movement is a songlike display essentially from the clarinets and flutes.
The finale is often compared with the last movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, which Brahms held in such esteem.
A German Requiem
1868, Choral
Brahms wrote this, his largest vocal work, after the death of his mother.
As opposed to the standard religious texts used for a typical Requiem, Brahms, as an atheist, opted for Bible texts of mourning and, as a result, produced a sombre work that is highly accessible.
Symphony No. 2
Symphony No. 2, Op. 73: 4th Movement
1877, Symphonies, Orchestral
This symphony begins in a relaxed manner yet accelerates with rushing strings and fiery brass work.
The Academic Festival Overture
1880, Overtures
Although the title is rather pompous, Brahms wrote this riotous melody in gratitude for receiving a university degree.
In the music he pokes a bit of fun at the assembled dignitaries, who were obviously expecting some majestic work befitting the formality of the occasion.
Piano Concerto No.2
Piano Concerto No.2 in B Flat Major
1881, Concerti, Orchestral
This piano concerto is possibly one of the most gigantic concertos ever written, yet when he finished it, in 1881, Brahms modestly wrote to a friend saying:
‘I wish I were sending you something different and better than this hasty line, but there’s no help for it right now; what I wanted to tell you is that I have written a tiny little piano concerto with a tiny little wisp of a scherzo.’
The friend responded with a six-page letter praising the work, saying that this second piano concerto, compared with the first, was like comparing a mature man to a youth.
Like many German composers, Brahms was much inspired by Italy, where he went for the second time when he was forty-seven, travelling around the country and also visiting Sicily.
On his return he sketched the main themes of the concerto on the eve of his birthday, finishing the whole work a couple of months later. The Italian influence is subtly noticeable in certain parts where one can feel ‘the Italian spring turning to summer’ , which is what Brahms attempted, gently, to convey.
The introductory movement (Allegro non troppo) opens with a beautiful horn passage that summons the other instruments. The piano plays between the horns, building a theme that is merely an introduction, for soon enough it launches into a solo cadenza, from which certain ideas are taken and developed in a stormy middle section.
Symphony No. 3
Symphony No. 3 Op. 90
1883, Symphonies, Orchestral
This symphony is often compared with Beethoven’s ‘Pastoral’ (No. 6) for its tranquillity.
Symphony No. 4
Symphony No. 4 Op. 98
1885, Symphonies, Orchestral
Brahms was fifty-two when he completed his Fourth Symphony in 1885. The work was composed in the Alpine town of Murzzuschlag, which was at such an altitude that spring came late, autumn early and local fruit barely had time to ripen before winter set in. In fact, when he sent the finished product to a friend of his he enclosed a letter, saying:
‘On the whole, unfortunately my pieces are pleasanter than I am and need less setting to rights! But the cherries never get ripe for eating in these parts, so don’t be afraid if you don’t like the taste of the thing. I’m not at all eager to write a bad number four.’
Clarinet Quintet in B Minor
Clarinet Quintet in B Minor Op. 115
1891, Chamber Music
The best of Brahms’s huge catalogue of chamber music, this quintet was written for a friend towards the end of the composer’s life. It has a serene, almost autumnal feel that creates a relaxed and mellow atmosphere.