By the late 1870s Brahms’ position as a preëminent composer was well recognized. He was almost universally admired for his first two symphonies, his two serenades, and the “Haydn” variations. So, in 1879 the University of Breslau in Prussia (now Wrocław, Poland), in the best tradition of universities...
Concerto in A minor for Violin, Cello, and Orchestra, op. 102 (“Double”)
“This is a chosen one.” Robert Schumann so characterized Johannes Brahms in his famous article that introduced the young Brahms to the public. Little did he know! Brahms went on to become the last great successor of the artistic mantle of musical Classicism that led from Joseph Haydn, through Mozart, Beethoven...
Hungarian Dances No. 5 & No. 6, WoO 1
Who, indeed, can resist the spirited, soulful music of the “Hungarian” Gypsies? Well, apparently, almost no one of the gifted, leading composers of nineteenth-century Europe, including such luminaries as Liszt, Schubert, and a host of others. And, most notably, our Johannes Brahms—he of the most classical bent, the...
Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, op. 15
Brahms wrote two piano concertos, separated by the passage of some twenty-two years. This first one is the product of his relative youth, having been completed in 1859, when he was twenty-five. A youthful work it is not, however. Brahms had labored over it for most of the decade of the 1850s, and during that time it underwent...
Piano Concerto No. 2 in Bb Major, op. 83
“This is a chosen one.” Robert Schumann so characterized Johannes Brahms in his famous article that introduced the young Brahms to the public. Little did he know! Brahms went on to become the last great successor of the artistic mantle of musical Classicism that led from Joseph Haydn, through Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert. That’s taking the rather narrow view, of course, for there were...
Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, op. 68
“This is a chosen one.” Robert Schumann so characterized Johannes Brahms in his famous article that introduced the young Brahms to the public. Little did he know! Brahms went on to become the last great successor of the artistic mantle of musical Classicism that led from Joseph Haydn, through Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert. ...
Symphony No. 2 in D Major, op. 73
Simply put, the composers of the nineteenth century after Beethoven tended to divide themselves into two groups. The progressives were true “Romantics,” and were greatly influenced by the extra-musical ideas that were the subjects of contemporary literature, poetry, and painting, among others. They devised new genres, such as the tone poems...
Symphony No. 3 in F Major, op. 90
Generally speaking, the composers of the nineteenth century after Beethoven tended to divide themselves into two groups. The progressives were true “Romantics,” and were greatly influenced by the extra-musical ideas that were the subjects of contemporary literature, poetry, and painting, among others. They devised new genres, such as the tone...
Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, op. 98
“This is a chosen one.” Robert Schumann so characterized Johannes Brahms in his famous article that introduced the young Brahms to the public. Little did he know! Brahms went on to become the last great successor of the artistic mantle of musical Classicism that led from Joseph Haydn, through Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert. ...
Tragic Overture, op. 81
In 1879 the University of Breslau in Prussia (now Wrocław, Poland), awarded Brahms with an honorary doctorate, and he returned the favor by writing his beloved Academic Festival Overture, a delightful potpourri of traditional songs known to all at German universities. He evidently felt the need to balance this work with a...