Beethoven's genius stood i8n front of Brahms' eyes as a brilliant but also frightening ideal. "I will never compose a symphony!", the young Brahms lamented still as a mature man to his friends. "You have no idea what someone like me feel always listening to the giant marching along and behind me!" This father fugure especially oppressed the young Brahms, for whom a performance of the "Ninth" in 1854 became a key experience - following this, Brahms transformed his own symphony into the d-minor Piano Concerto, which was not a success when premiered in 1859.
Plagued with self-doubts, he conceited and rejected symphony ideas: 14 years have been between the first sketches for the first c-minor symphony and its final completion.
The Double Concerto for Violin and Cello, opus 102, displayed Brahms at the peak of his creativity. Clara Schumann and many other critics didn't agree with the idea of bringing the cello and the violin together as solo instruments. Today we know, that all critics erred.
String sextets, serenades, incredible oratories - what a wonderful classical treasure of a great classical composer, who died because of an ignored hepatitis.
Friday, October 5, 2012
Johannes Brahms - His Music and Life
Brahms became a contra-bass-player and respected horn player. As a young boy Brahms earned his livings by performing in different sailor saloons and dives.
After wretched and puny school years he did try to build up a higher education through self-confidence and self-study. Brahms surprisingly drew people's attention to his impressing piano playing, especially when he accompanied the Hungarian violinist Eduard Remeny on virtuoso touring.
In 1858, Brahms became Musical Director in Detmold/Germany. In 1863, Brahms has been in charge of the Vienna Academy of Music. As freelance artist Brahms lived a carefree life. Schubert had been forced to it, Beethoven succeeded in doing at the beginning.
The Piano was Brahms' source of composing work. He could fulfill a sonata's gigantic measurements and extents. Richard Wagner and Johannes Brahms have been the "Children of Romanticism", but only Brahms has lacked the pathos of theatrical language and expressionism. But, Brahms' compositions have become a world power - equal to Beethoven and Wagner.
This space doesn't allow mentioning the whole life's work of an incredible German classical composer named Johannes Brahms.
More in my next post about him.
(To be continued!)
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