Johannes Brahms
German Romantic who merged Classical rigour with Romantic passion
1833
1897
German
Romantic
German Requiem, Symphony No. 4, Hungarian Dances
Early life
Johannes Brahms was born on 7 May 1833 in Hamburg, the son of a double bass player in the city's theatre orchestra. He studied piano with Eduard Marxsen, who also grounded him thoroughly in the music of Bach and Beethoven. As a teenager, Brahms supplemented the family income by playing piano in the taverns and dance halls of Hamburg's dockside — an experience that, while gruelling, deepened his practical knowledge of popular music. In 1853 a concert tour with the Hungarian violinist Eduard Reményi brought him to the attention of Joseph Joachim, who introduced him to Robert and Clara Schumann. Robert Schumann's famous article 'Neue Bahnen' (New Paths), published in October 1853, hailed the twenty-year-old Brahms as a genius destined to give 'ideal expression to the times.'
Career and major works
This public endorsement was both a blessing and a burden. Brahms felt the weight of expectation keenly, particularly in the symphonic form: he worked on his First Symphony for over twenty years before completing it in 1876. The four symphonies (1876, 1877, 1883, 1885) stand alongside Beethoven's as the pillars of the German symphonic tradition. His other orchestral works include the Violin Concerto in D major (1878), the two piano concertos, the Variations on a Theme by Haydn (1873), and the Double Concerto for violin and cello (1887). His German Requiem (1868), a deeply personal setting of biblical texts in German rather than the traditional Latin liturgy, is one of the great choral works of the nineteenth century. His chamber music — including the Clarinet Quintet (1891), the Piano Quintet, three string quartets, and three violin sonatas — is of the highest quality.
Musical style and legacy
Brahms's music is characterised by structural rigour, contrapuntal mastery inherited from his study of Bach, a richly autumnal harmonic palette, and a thematic development of Beethovenian thoroughness. His melodies, particularly in the Hungarian Dances and the Intermezzi for piano, possess a warmth that belies his reputation for austerity. He died in Vienna on 3 April 1897.