Johannes Brahms

Following in the footsteps of Romanticism, of which he was one of the last masters, Johannes Brahms is often considered Beethoven's heir, but if he follows in the same footsteps, excluding opera, his work stands out for its singular originality. Born in Hamburg on May 7, 1833, he was the son of Johann Jakob Brahms, a musician who played French horn in a municipal orchestra and a sextet, before joining the Philharmonic Orchestra as double bass, horn and flute player. He took his first piano lessons at the age of seven with Otto Cossel, who recommended him to his teacher Eduard Marxsen, who gave him comprehensive training for ten years, from 1843 to 1853. A lover of folk songs and an avid reader, the young Brahms, who played in cabarets in the evenings, established himself as a virtuoso pianist and composer under assumed names. After giving his first public recitals, he embarked on a tour of northern Germany with his violinist friend Ede Reményi, who had given him a taste for gypsy music and csárdás, where they met Joseph Joachim in Hanover. Impressed, the already renowned violinist advised the pianist to visit Franz Liszt in Weimar, but Brahms had little affinity with the master's progressive style. His friendship with Joachim, on the other hand, was to last a long time, and they both went to Düsseldorf to meet Robert Schumann, who expressed his admiration for the musician in an article in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik entitled "Nouveaux chemins" ("New paths"). Immediately recommended to the publisher Breitkopf & Härtel, Brahms had his first three piano sonatas published, one of which was dedicated to his wife Clara Schumann. While Schumann is confined to the Endenich psychiatric hospital, Brahms moves into their home and composes the Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann. His friendship with Clara was tinged with amorous passion, as evidenced by the four Ballades op. 10, but his husband's death on July 29, 1856 drove them farther apart than it brought them closer. He composed the String Trio no. 1 and began Un Requiem allemand, which he completed eleven years later. In 1857, he entered the service of Prince Leopold III of Lippe as a music teacher, and directed the Detmold Singing Society for two years. His Piano Concerto No. 1, premiered on January 22, 1859, still reflects his feelings for Clara Schumann. Other works include Serenades for orchestra, a second Sextet and lieder dedicated to his future fiancée, Agathe von Siebold. The affair soon came to an end, and Brahms remained a bachelor from then on. Back in Hamburg, he composed six piano collections, including Variations on a Theme by Paganini, as well as two Quartets for piano and strings and a first Piano Quintet. This period, during which he entrusted the publication of his works to Fritz Simrock, also saw the controversy surrounding an article to which he subscribed, castigating the "New German School" represented by Liszt and Wagner. Perceived as a conservative, Brahms failed to be appointed to the post of conductor of the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra in 1862, thirty years before he turned down the offer. He then decided to settle permanently in Vienna, where he established himself as a concert pianist and, for two years, choirmaster of the Singakademie, working to rediscover forgotten Baroque composers, including Bach. After resigning in 1864, he devoted himself to composing and touring. Until 1876, he spent his summers in Lichtental, where he had bought a house not far from Clara Schumann's home. He completed the German Requiem, premiered in its entirety in Leipzig on February 18, 1869, and began a series of twenty-one Hungarian Dances for piano four hands, completed in 1880 and later orchestrated (the fifth is the best-known). His famous lullaby Guten Abend, gute Nacht dates from 1868. His circle of friends included conductors Hermann Levi and Hans von Bülow, and critic Eduard Hanslick. His success as a pianist led him to play in Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Denmark and Holland. For three years, from 1872 to 1875, he ran the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde (Society of Friends of Music) in Vienna, organizing concerts. After the premiere of his first symphonic work, Variations on a Theme by Haydn, in 1873, Brahms completed his long-awaited Symphony no. 1. Unveiled on November 4, 1876, it was followed by the Second, premiered on December 30, 1877, and the Violin Concerto (1878), appropriately dedicated to Joseph Joachim, who premiered it in Leipzig on January 1, 1879. Awarded an honorary doctorate by Cambridge University in 1877, and by Breslau University in 1881, he composed the joyous Overture for an Academic Festival, which is followed by the contrastingTragic Overture. Nevertheless, Brahms did not abandon compositions for the piano, with the Klavierstücke op. 76 and two Rhapsodies op. 79. On November 9, 1881, he successfully premiered his Piano Concerto No. 2 in Budapest, followed by a series of concerts in Vienna, Germany and Hungary. The image of the glabrous, pale-eyed young Romantic virtuoso was replaced by that of the imposing master with the full beard, who adored Antonín Dvořák, the latter dedicating his String Quartet to him. At the age of fifty, Brahms remained an inspired composer, as demonstrated by his Symphony No. 3, premiered at the Musikverein in Vienna by Hans Richter on December 2, 1883. Its third movement has been the subject of popular adaptations. His next work, Symphony no. 4, was performed on October 25, 1885, and he conducted it himself in Meiningen. After the premiere of the Double Concerto on October 18, 1887 in Cologne with Joseph Joachim and cellist Robert Hausmann, his final years were devoted to piano and chamber music. In 1889, Thomas Edison's assistant, Theo Wangemann, came to record it on piano, but the poorly audible source is merely of documentary interest. So Brahms, who was rubbing shoulders with Gustav Mahler and Johann Strauss II, had enough resources to compose the String Quintet No. 2 (1890) and, for piano, three Intermezzi op. 117, Six pièces op. 118 and Four pièces op. 119 (1892-1893). Just as he was thinking of retiring, his meeting with soloist Richard Mühlfeld led him to compose the Trio for clarinet, cello and piano and the Quintet for clarinet and strings (1891), followed by two Sonatas for clarinet (1894). He also fell in love with the 28-year-old mezzo-soprano Alice Barbi, who refused to commit. In 1896, he wrote the Vier ernste Gesänge (Four Serious Songs) for Clara Schumann, who died on May 20. On April 3, 1897, Johannes Brahms died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 63. He is buried in Vienna's central cemetery, alongside Beethoven and Schubert.