Johannes Brahms
The stature of Johannes Brahms among classical composers is best illustrated by his inclusion among the "Three Bs" triumvirate of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. Of all the major composers of the late Romantic era, Brahms was the one most attached to the Classical ideal as manifested in the music of Haydn, Mozart, and especially Beethoven; indeed, Hans von Bülow once characterized Brahms' Symphony No. 1 (1855-1876) as "Beethoven's Tenth." As a youth, Brahms was championed by Robert Schumann as music's greatest hope for the future; as a mature composer, Brahms became the most potent symbol of musical tradition for conservative musical journalists, a stalwart against the "degeneration" represented by the music of Wagner and his school. Brahms' symphonies, choral and vocal works, chamber music, and piano pieces are imbued with strong emotional feeling, yet take shape according to a thoroughly considered structural plan.
The son of a double bassist in the Hamburg Philharmonic Society, Brahms demonstrated great promise at a young age. He began his musical career as a pianist, contributing to the family coffers as a teenager by playing in restaurants, taverns, and even brothels. By his early twenties he enjoyed associations with luminaries like violinists Eduard Reményi and Joseph Joachim, but the friend and mentor who was most instrumental in advancing his career was Schumann, who all but adopted him and became his most ardent admirer -- their esteem was mutual. Following Schumann's death in 1856, Brahms became the closest confidant and lifelong friend of the composer's widow, pianist and composer Clara Wieck Schumann. After a lifetime of spectacular musical triumphs and failed loves (the composer was involved in several romantic entanglements but never wed), Brahms died of liver cancer on April 3, 1897.
In every genre in which he composed, Brahms produced works that have become staples of the repertory. His most ambitious work, the German Requiem (1863-1867), is the composer's singular reinterpretation of an age-old form. The four symphonies -- lushly scored, grand in scope, and deeply expressive -- are cornerstones of the symphonic literature. Brahms' concertos are in a similarly monumental, quasi-symphonic vein: the two piano concertos (1856-1859 and 1881), and the Violin Concerto (1878) call for soloists with both considerable technical skill and stamina. His chamber music is among the most sophisticated and exquisitely crafted of the Romantic era; his works that incorporate clarinet (e.g., the Trio in A minor, Op. 114 and the two Sonatas, Op. 120), the latter an instrument largely overlooked by his contemporaries -- remain unsurpassed. Though the piano sonata never held the same appeal for Brahms as it did for Beethoven (Brahms wrote three to Beethoven's 32), he produced a voluminous body of music for the piano. He showed a particular affinity for variations -- notably, on themes of Schumann (1854), Handel (1861), and Paganini (1862-1863) -- and likewise produced a passel of national dances and character pieces such as ballades, intermezzi, and rhapsodies. Collectively, these constitute one of the essential bodies of work in the realm of 19th century keyboard music.
© Rovi Staff /TiVo
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Violin Works
Classical - Released by Pipeline Music on 7 Jun 2006
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Peaceful Brahms & Schumann
Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 19 Nov 2020
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Grandi Pianisti Wilhelm Backhaus
Wilhelm Backhaus, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 4 Jun 2021
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Brahms: Masterworks
Classical - Released by Blue music on 18 Dec 2002
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Brahms, Tchaikovsky
New York Philharmonic, Alan Gilbert, Rudolf Buchbinder
Classical - Released by New York Philharmonic on 9 Apr 2013
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Ungarischer Tanz Nr. 9
Classical - Released by soundnotation on 31 Oct 2022
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Brahms: String Quintets Op. 88 & Op. 111
Chamber Music - Released by Claves Records on 1 Feb 2012
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Brahms - Great Recordings
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 10 Oct 2020
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Peaceful Classical
Johannes Brahms, Georg Friedrich Händel, Claude Debussy
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 11 Mar 2024
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Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Op. 78
Classical - Released by Pipeline Music on 8 Jun 2006
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Johannes Brahms: Complete Music for Two Pianos
Leonora Armellini, Mattia Ometto, Johannes Brahms
Chamber Music - Released by Da Vinci Classics on 19 Oct 2018
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Russian Piano School: Heinrich Neuhaus, Vol. 3
Classical - Released by Russian Compact Disc on 22 Jul 1996
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Brahms: Classical Moments
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 29 Oct 2022
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Brahms: Waltz No. 15 in A-Flat Major, Op. 39 (Digitally Remastered)
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on 7 May 2012
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La musique classique dans la pub
Classical - Released by Music Ware on 8 Jul 2016
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Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 108 - Bartók: Violin Rhapsody No. 1, Sz. 86 - Hindemith: Violin Sonata, Op. 31, No. 1
Daniel Spiegelberg, Andrée Stakian
Classical - Released by VDE-GALLO on 25 May 1982
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Brahms: Piano Trio No. 1 in B Major - Ravel: Piano Trio in A Minor
Chamber Music - Released by MSR Classics on 25 Apr 2021
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Brahms: The Complete Piano Trios
Classical - Released by Challenge Classics on 1 Jan 2001
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Johannes Brahms: Die Cellosonaten
Classical - Released by Ton 4 Records on 21 Dec 2007
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Masters - Brahms
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 27 Jun 2020
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Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Variationen B-Dur, Op. 83a (Concertino)
Marina Kheifets, Anna Yarovaya, Felix Mendelssohn, Johannes Brahms, Astor Piazzolla, Alexander Rosenblatt
Classical - Released by Rondeau Production on 22 Feb 2019
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