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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Brahms: The Symphonies
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons
Classical - Released by BSO Classics on 21 Apr 2017
Gramophone Editor's Choice24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert & Brahms: The Complete Duos (Vol. 2) - Trockne Blumen
Pieter Wispelwey, Paolo Giacometti
Chamber Music - Released by Evil Penguin Classic on 27 Nov 2015
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Piano Concertos
Halle, Sir Mark Elder, Sunwook Kim
Concertos - Released by Halle Concerts Society on 5 May 2017
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Hungarian Dances
Johannes Brahms, Staatskapelle Berlin, Otmar Suitner
Classical - Released by Denon on 1 Jan 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: String Sextets
Quartet Sine Nomine, Nicolas Pache, François Guye
Chamber Music - Released by Claves Records on 30 Sep 2014
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem
Classical - Released by Evil Penguin Classic on 21 Sep 2015
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Symphony No. 3 & Strauss: Suite from Der Rosenkavalier
Classical - Released by The Philadelphia Orchestra on 19 May 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Martha Argerich - Daniel Rivera en el Teatro El Círculo de Rosario. Vol. 3
Martha Argerich, Daniel Rivera
Chamber Music - Released by Irco Video on 20 Jun 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: The Four Symphonies (Live)
Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin
Symphonic Music - Released by Live from Orchestra Hall on 6 May 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Quintette à cordes No. 2 in G Major, Op. 111 (Live)
Thomas Zehetmair, Orchestre national Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Johannes Brahms
Classical - Released by XXI Music on 9 Jun 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Double Concerto - Symphony No. 4
Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra, Pinchas Zukerman, Amanda Forsyth
Classical - Released by Groupe Analekta, Inc on 13 Nov 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 83 (Digitally Remastered)
Moscow RTV Symphony Orchestra, Igor Zhukov
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on 16 Apr 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Double Concerto for Violin and Cello in A Minor, Op. 102 - Dvořák: Violin Concerto in A Minor, Op. 53
Classical - Released by RHI on 16 Apr 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
David Oistrakh Performs Brahms Concerto for Violin in D Major
Classical - Released by Stave on 5 May 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Composer's Piano: Brahms Late Piano Works Opp.116-119
Classical - Released by MSR Classics on 9 Apr 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68
Classical - Released by Lodia Music International on 26 Jan 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ein Menschliches Requiem
Vlaams Radiokoor, Bart Van Reyn
Classical - Released by Evil Penguin Classic on 11 Feb 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Halloween Music
Camille Saint-Saëns, Johannes Brahms
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 27 Oct 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Sonata D.574 - Brahms: Sonatas Op. 99 & 100
Pieter Wispelwey, Paolo Giacometti
Classical - Released by Evil Penguin Classic on 4 Nov 2016
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Classical Dreaming - Cello & Piano
Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 18 Mar 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem)
Classical - Released by BSO Classics on 19 Feb 2009
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo