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72-591: Hilliard Ensemble was a British male vocal quartet originally devoted to the performance of early music . The group was named after the Elizabethan miniaturist painter Nicholas Hilliard . Founded in 1974, the group disbanded in 2014. Although most of its work focused on music of the Medieval and Renaissance periods, the Hilliard Ensemble also performed contemporary music, working frequently with

144-507: A concert tour with Reményi, visiting the violinist and composer Joseph Joachim at Hanover in May. Brahms had earlier heard Joachim playing the solo part in Beethoven's violin concerto and been deeply impressed. Brahms played some of his own solo piano pieces for Joachim, who remembered fifty years later: "Never in the course of my artist's life have I been more completely overwhelmed". This

216-554: A fantasy by Sigismund Thalberg . His first full piano recital, in 1848, included a fugue by Bach as well as works by Marxsen and contemporary virtuosi such as Jacob Rosenhain . A second recital in April 1849 included Beethoven's Waldstein sonata and a waltz fantasia of his own composition and garnered favourable newspaper reviews. Persistent stories of the impoverished adolescent Brahms playing in bars and brothels have only anecdotal provenance, and many modern scholars dismiss them;

288-513: A friend that Agathe was his "last love". Brahms had hoped to be given the conductorship of the Hamburg Philharmonic, but in 1862 this post was given to baritone Julius Stockhausen . Brahms continued to hope for the post. But he demurred when he was finally offered the directorship in 1893, as he had "got used to the idea of having to go along other paths". In autumn 1862 Brahms made his first visit to Vienna, staying there over

360-775: A growing circle of supporters, friends, and musicians. Eduard Hanslick celebrated them polemically as absolute music , and Hans von Bülow even cast Brahms as Beethoven's musical heir, an idea Richard Wagner mocked. Settling in Vienna , Brahms conducted the Singakademie and Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde , programming the early and often "serious" music of his personal studies. He considered retiring from composition late in life but continued to write chamber music, especially for Richard Mühlfeld . His contributions and craftsmanship were admired by his contemporaries like Antonín Dvořák , whose music he enthusiastically supported, and

432-651: A keen interest in Wagner's music, helping with preparations for Wagner's Vienna concerts in 1862/63, and being rewarded by Tausig with a manuscript of part of Wagner's Tannhäuser (which Wagner demanded back in 1875). The Handel Variations also featured, together with the first Piano Quartet, in his first Viennese recitals, in which his performances were better received by the public and critics than his music. In February 1865 Brahms's mother died, and he began to compose his large choral work A German Requiem , Op. 45, of which six movements were completed by 1866. Premieres of

504-702: A letter of introduction from Joachim, was welcomed by the Schumanns. Robert, greatly impressed and delighted by the 20-year-old's talent, published an article entitled "Neue Bahnen" ("New Paths") in the 28 October issue of the journal Neue Zeitschrift für Musik nominating Brahms as one who was "fated to give expression to the times in the highest and most ideal manner". This praise may have aggravated Brahms's self-critical standards of perfection and dented his confidence. He wrote to Schumann in November 1853 that his praise "will arouse such extraordinary expectations by

576-713: A musical family in Hamburg , he began composing and concertizing locally in his youth. He toured Central Europe as a pianist in his adulthood, premiering many of his own works. He worked with Ede Reményi and Joseph Joachim and met Franz Liszt in Weimar . With Joachim's assistance, Brahms sought Robert Schumann 's approval, receiving both his and Clara Schumann 's vigorous support and guidance. Amid Robert's insanity and institutionalization, Brahms stayed with Clara in Düsseldorf , to whom he became devoted. After Robert's death,

648-660: A number of instrumental consorts and choral ensembles specialising in Early music repertoire were formed. Groups such as the Tallis Scholars , the Early Music Consort and the Taverner Consort and Players have been influential in bringing Early music to modern audiences through performances and popular recordings. The revival of interest in Early music has given rise to a scholarly approach to

720-418: A performer in a private concert including Beethoven 's quintet for piano and winds Op. 16 and a piano quartet by Mozart . He also played as a solo work an étude of Henri Herz . By 1845 he had written a piano sonata in G minor. His parents disapproved of his early efforts as a composer, feeling that he had better career prospects as a performer. From 1845 to 1848 Brahms studied with Cossel's teacher,

792-465: A position as musician to the tiny court of Detmold , the capital of the Principality of Lippe , where he spent the winters of 1857 to 1860 and for which he wrote his two Serenades (1858 and 1859, Opp. 11 and 16). In Hamburg he established a women's choir for which he wrote music and conducted. To this period also belong his first two Piano Quartets ( Op. 25 and Op. 26 ) and the first movement of

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864-411: A prescriptive weight that overspecifies and distorts its original openness. Accidentals … may or may not have been notated, but what modern notation requires would then have been perfectly apparent without notation to a singer versed in counterpoint ". Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms ( / b r ɑː m z / ; German: [joˈhanəs ˈbʁaːms] ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897)

936-620: A putative tenth symphony of Beethoven). Brahms was now recognised as a major figure in the world of music. He had been on the jury which awarded the Vienna State Prize to the (then little-known) composer Antonín Dvořák three times, first in February 1875, and later in 1876 and 1877, and had successfully recommended Dvořák to his publisher, Simrock. The two men met for the first time in 1877, and Dvořák dedicated to Brahms his String Quartet, Op. 34 of that year. He also began to be

1008-545: A representative of the American inventor Thomas Edison , visited the composer in Vienna and invited him to make an experimental recording. Brahms played an abbreviated version of his first Hungarian Dance and of Josef Strauss 's Die Libelle on the piano. Although the spoken introduction to the short piece of music is quite clear, the piano playing is largely inaudible due to heavy surface noise . In that same year, Brahms

1080-600: A staple of the concert repertoire, continuing to influence composers into the 21st century. Brahms's father, Johann Jakob Brahms, was from the town of Heide in Holstein. Against his family's will, Johann Jakob pursued a career in music, arriving in Hamburg at age 19. He found work playing double bass for jobs; he also played in a sextet in the Alster-pavilion in Hamburg's Jungfernstieg . In 1830, Johann Jakob

1152-437: A variety of later composers. Max Reger and Alexander Zemlinsky reconciled Brahms's and Wagner's often contrasted styles. So did Arnold Schoenberg , who emphasized Brahms's "progressive" side. He and Anton Webern were inspired by the intricate structural coherence of Brahms's music, including what Schoenberg termed its developing variation . Brahms saw his music became internationally important in his own lifetime. It remains

1224-500: A version of the first movement had been announced by Brahms to Clara and to Albert Dietrich) in the early 1860s. During the decade it evolved very gradually; the finale may not have begun its conception until 1868. Brahms was cautious and typically self-deprecating about the symphony during its creation, writing to his friends that it was "long and difficult", "not exactly charming" and, significantly, "long and in C Minor ", which, as Richard Taruskin points out, made it clear "that Brahms

1296-527: Is preserved as a museum. In Vienna Brahms became an associate of two close members of Wagner's circle, his earlier friend Peter Cornelius and Karl Tausig , and of Joseph Hellmesberger Sr. and Julius Epstein , respectively the Director and head of violin studies, and the head of piano studies, at the Vienna Conservatoire . Brahms's circle grew to include the notable critic (and opponent of

1368-570: Is reported to have responded, "As far as the text is concerned, I confess that I would gladly omit even the word German and instead use Human; also with my best knowledge and will I would dispense with passages like John 3:16 . On the other hand, I have chosen one thing or another because I am a musician, because I needed it, and because with my venerable authors I can't delete or dispute anything. But I had better stop before I say too much." Brahms also experienced at this period popular success with works such as his first set of Hungarian Dances (1869),

1440-639: The Academic Festival Overture (written following the conferring of an honorary degree by the University of Breslau ) and Tragic Overture of 1880. In May 1876, Cambridge University offered to grant honorary degrees of Doctor of Music to both Brahms and Joachim, provided that they composed new pieces as "theses" and were present in Cambridge to receive their degrees. Brahms was averse to traveling to England and requested to receive

1512-588: The Liebeslieder Waltzes , Op. 52 , (1868/69), and his collections of lieder (Opp. 43 and 46–49). Following such successes he finally completed a number of works that he had wrestled with over many years such as the cantata Rinaldo (1863–1868), his first two string quartets Op. 51 nos. 1 and 2 (1865–1873), the third piano quartet (1855–1875), and most notably his first symphony which appeared in 1876, but which had been begun as early as 1855. During 1869, Brahms felt himself falling in love with

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1584-718: The Vier ernste Gesänge (Four Serious Songs), Op. 121 (1896), which were prompted by the death of Clara Schumann and dedicated to the artist Max Klinger , who was his great admirer. The last of the Eleven Chorale Preludes for organ, Op. 122 (1896) is a setting of "O Welt ich muss dich lassen" ("O world I must leave thee") and the last notes that Brahms wrote. Many of these works were written in his house in Bad Ischl , where Brahms had first visited in 1882 and where he spent every summer from 1889 onwards. In

1656-425: The csardas , which was later to prove the foundation of his most lucrative and popular compositions, the two sets of Hungarian Dances (1869 and 1880). 1850 also marked Brahms's first contact (albeit a failed one) with Robert Schumann; during Schumann's visit to Hamburg that year, friends persuaded Brahms to send the former some of his compositions, but the package was returned unopened. In 1853 Brahms went on

1728-533: The German Requiem , the Alto Rhapsody , and the patriotic Triumphlied , Op. 55, which celebrated Prussia's victory in the 1870/71 Franco-Prussian War ). 1873 saw the premiere of his orchestral Variations on a Theme by Haydn , originally conceived for two pianos, which has become one of his most popular works. Brahms's First Symphony , Op. 68, appeared in 1876, though it had been begun (and

1800-675: The Gängeviertel  [ de ] quarter of Hamburg and struggled economically. (Johann Jakob even considered emigrating to the United States when an impresario , recognizing Johannes's talent, promised them fortune there.) Eventually Johann Jakob became a musician in the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg playing double bass , horn, and flute . For enjoyment, he played first violin in string quartets . The family moved over

1872-642: The Rostock Motet Choir . In 2008 the Hilliard Ensemble premiered Heiner Goebbels ' avant-garde staged concert I went to the house but did not enter at the 2008 Edinburgh International Festival , repeated at the Berliner Festspiele. In 2009 the ensemble premiered five new works: Guido Morini 's Una Iliade , Fabio Vacchi 's Memoria Italiana , Steffen Schleiermacher 's Die Beschwörung der Trunkenen Oase , Simon Bainbridge 's Tenebrae and Wolfgang Rihm 's Et Lux . In September 2010

1944-588: The Variations on a Theme of Schumann . Clara continued to support Brahms's career by programming his music in her recitals. After the publication of his Op. 10 Ballades for piano, Brahms published no further works until 1860. His major project of this period was the Piano Concerto in D minor , which he had begun as a work for two pianos in 1854 but soon realized needed a larger-scale format. Based in Hamburg at this time, he gained, with Clara's support,

2016-504: The third Piano Quartet , which eventually appeared in 1875. The end of the decade brought professional setbacks for Brahms. The premiere of the First Piano Concerto in Hamburg on 22 January 1859, with the composer as soloist, was poorly received. Brahms wrote to Joachim that the performance was "a brilliant and decisive – failure ... [I]t forces one to concentrate one's thoughts and increases one's courage ... But

2088-433: The ' Three Bs '; in a letter to his wife he wrote: "You know what I think of Brahms: after Bach and Beethoven the greatest, the most sublime of all composers." The following years saw the premieres of his Third Symphony , Op. 90 (1883) and his Fourth Symphony , Op. 98 (1885). Richard Strauss , who had been appointed assistant to von Bülow at Meiningen, and had been uncertain about Brahms's music, found himself converted by

2160-492: The 'New German School') Eduard Hanslick , the conductor Hermann Levi and the surgeon Theodor Billroth , who were to become among his greatest advocates. In January 1863 Brahms met Richard Wagner for the first time, for whom he played his Handel Variations Op. 24, which he had completed the previous year. The meeting was cordial, although Wagner was in later years to make critical, and even insulting, comments on Brahms's music. Brahms however retained at this time and later

2232-632: The Apostle in New York to perform Kjartan Sveinsson 's Cage a Swallow Can’t You but You Can’t Swallow a Cage . The Hilliard Ensemble decided to disband after 41 years and gave their final concert on 20 December 2014 at the Wigmore Hall , London. Early music Interpretations of historical scope of "early music" vary. The original Academy of Ancient Music formed in 1726 defined "Ancient" music as works written by composers who lived before

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2304-491: The Brahms family was relatively prosperous, and Hamburg legislation very strictly forbade music in, or the admittance of minors to, brothels. Brahms's juvenilia comprised piano music, chamber music and works for male voice choir. Under the pseudonym 'G. W. Marks', some piano arrangements and fantasies were published by the Hamburg firm of Cranz in 1849. The earliest of Brahms's works which he acknowledged (his Scherzo Op. 4 and

2376-594: The Estonian composer Arvo Pärt and included in its concerts works by John Cage , Gavin Bryars , Giya Kancheli , and Heinz Holliger . The group was founded by Paul Hillier , Errol Girdlestone, Paul Elliott, and David James, although the membership was flexible until Hillier left in 1990. After that, the core members were David James ( counter-tenor ), Rogers Covey-Crump (tenor/ high tenor ), John Potter (tenor), and Gordon Jones (bass), except that in 1998 John Potter

2448-552: The Hilliard Ensemble joined the London Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra for the world premiere of Matteo D'Amico's Flight from Byzantium at the Royal Festival Hall , London. They also performed three pieces by Guillaume Dufay : Moribus et genere , Vergene bella and Lamentatio sanctae matris ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae . On 15 November 2010, the group appeared at Church of St. Paul

2520-400: The Schumanns' daughter Julie (then aged 24 to his 36). He did not declare himself. When later that year Julie's engagement to Count Marmorito was announced, he wrote and gave to Clara the manuscript of his Alto Rhapsody (Op. 53). Clara wrote in her diary that "he called it his wedding song" and noted "the profound pain in the text and the music". From 1872 to 1875, Brahms was director of

2592-755: The Six Songs Op. 3, and the Scherzo Op. 4), whilst Bartholf Senff published the Third Piano Sonata Op. 5 and the Six Songs Op. 6. In Leipzig, he gave recitals including his own first two piano sonatas, and met with Ferdinand David , Ignaz Moscheles , and Hector Berlioz , among others. After Schumann's attempted suicide and subsequent confinement in a mental sanatorium near Bonn in February 1854 (where he died of pneumonia in 1856), Brahms based himself in Düsseldorf, where he supported

2664-610: The Third Symphony and was enthusiastic about the Fourth: "a giant work, great in concept and invention". Another, but more cautious, supporter from the younger generation was Gustav Mahler , who first met Brahms in 1884 and remained a close acquaintance. He considered Brahms a conservative master who was more turned toward the past than the future. He rated Brahms as technically superior to Anton Bruckner , but more earth-bound than Wagner and Beethoven. In 1889, Theo Wangemann ,

2736-511: The art of serious music in Germany today" led to a bilious comment from Wagner in his essay "On Poetry and Composition": "I know of some famous composers who in their concert masquerades don the disguise of a street-singer one day, the hallelujah periwig of Handel the next, the dress of a Jewish Czardas -fiddler another time, and then again the guise of a highly respectable symphony dressed up as Number Ten" (referring to Brahms's First Symphony as

2808-647: The concerts of the Vienna Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde , where he ensured that the orchestra was staffed only by professionals. He conducted a repertoire noted and criticized for its emphasis on early and often "serious" music, running from Isaac , Bach, Handel, and Cherubini to the nineteenth century composers who were not of the New German School. Among these were Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Joachim, Ferdinand Hiller , Max Bruch and himself (notably his large scale choral works,

2880-412: The conductor Bernhard Scholz : "I am coming with a large beard! Prepare your wife for a most awful sight." The singer George Henschel recalled that after a concert "I saw a man unknown to me, rather stout, of middle height, with long hair and a full beard. In a very deep and hoarse voice he introduced himself as 'Musikdirektor Müller' ... an instant later, we all found ourselves laughing heartily at

2952-489: The debate on the future of German music which seriously misfired. Together with Joachim and others, he prepared an attack on Liszt's followers, the so-called " New German School " (although Brahms himself was sympathetic to the music of Richard Wagner , the School's leading light). In particular they objected to the rejection of traditional musical forms and to the "rank, miserable weeds growing from Liszt-like fantasias". A draft

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3024-412: The degree 'in absentia', offering as his thesis the previously performed (November 1876) symphony. But of the two, only Joachim went to England and was granted a degree. Brahms "acknowledged the invitation" by giving the manuscript score and parts of his First Symphony to Joachim, who led the performance at Cambridge 8 March 1877 (English premiere). The commendation of Brahms by Breslau as "the leader in

3096-537: The effort, three weeks before his death, to attend the premiere of Johann Strauss's operetta Die Göttin der Vernunft (The Goddess of Reason) in March 1897. After the successful Vienna premiere of his Second String Quintet , Op. 111 in 1890, the 57-year-old Brahms came to think that he might retire from composition, telling a friend that he "had achieved enough; here I had before me a carefree old age and could enjoy it in peace." He also began to find solace in escorting

3168-631: The end of the 16th century. Johannes Brahms and his contemporaries would have understood Early music to range from the High Renaissance and Baroque, while some scholars consider that Early music should include the music of ancient Greece or Rome before 500 AD (a period that is generally covered by the term Ancient music ). Music critic Michael Kennedy excludes Baroque, defining Early music as "musical compositions from [the] earliest times up to and including music of [the] Renaissance period". Musicologist Thomas Forrest Kelly considers that

3240-514: The essence of Early music is the revival of "forgotten" musical repertoire and that the term is intertwined with the rediscovery of old performance practice . According to the UK's National Centre for Early Music , the term "early music" refers to both a repertory (European music written between 1250 and 1750 embracing Medieval, Renaissance and the Baroque) – and a historically informed approach to

3312-527: The first three movements were given in Vienna, but the complete work was first given in Bremen in 1868 to great acclaim. A seventh movement (the soprano solo "Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit") was added for the equally successful Leipzig premiere (February 1869). The work went on to receive concert and critical acclaim throughout Germany and also in England, Switzerland and Russia, marking effectively Brahms's arrival on

3384-484: The hissing was too much of a good thing ..." At a second performance, audience reaction was so hostile that Brahms had to be restrained from leaving the stage after the first movement. As a consequence of these reactions Breitkopf and Härtel declined to take on his new compositions. Brahms consequently established a relationship with other publishers, including Simrock , who eventually became his major publishing partner. Brahms further made an intervention in 1860 in

3456-562: The household and dealt with business matters on Clara's behalf. Clara was not allowed to visit Robert until two days before his death, but Brahms was able to visit him and acted as a go-between. Brahms began to feel deeply for Clara, who to him represented an ideal of womanhood. But he was conflicted about their romantic association and resisted it, choosing the life of a bachelor in an apparent effort to focus on his craft. Nonetheless, their intensely emotional relationship lasted until Clara's death. In June 1854 Brahms dedicated to Clara his Op. 9,

3528-561: The mezzo-soprano Alice Barbi and may have proposed to her (she was only 28). His admiration for Richard Mühlfeld , clarinettist with the Meiningen orchestra, revived his interest in composing and led him to write the Clarinet Trio , Op. 114 (1891); Clarinet Quintet , Op. 115 (1891); and the two Clarinet Sonatas , Op. 120 (1894). Brahms also wrote at this time his final cycles of piano pieces, Opp. 116–119 and

3600-603: The next few years included "dance pieces, preludes and fugues for organ, and neo- Renaissance and neo- Baroque choral works". After meeting Joachim, Brahms and Reményi visited Weimar , where Brahms met Franz Liszt , Peter Cornelius , and Joachim Raff , and where Liszt performed Brahms's Op. 4 Scherzo at sight . Reményi claimed that Brahms then slept during Liszt's performance of his own Sonata in B minor ; this and other disagreements led Reményi and Brahms to part company. Brahms visited Düsseldorf in October 1853, and, with

3672-505: The perfect success of Brahms's disguise." The incident also displays Brahms's love of practical jokes. In 1882 Brahms completed his Piano Concerto No. 2 , Op. 83, dedicated to his teacher Marxsen. Brahms was invited by Hans von Bülow to undertake a premiere of the work with the Meiningen Court Orchestra . This was the beginning of his collaboration with Meiningen and with von Bülow, who was to rank Brahms as one of

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3744-423: The performance of music. Through academic musicological research of music treatises , urtext editions of musical scores and other historical evidence, performers attempt to be faithful to the performance style of the musical era in which a work was originally conceived. Additionally, there has been a rise in the use of original or reproduction period instruments as part of the performance of Early music, such as

3816-469: The performance of that music. Today, the understanding of "Early music" has come to include "any music for which a historically appropriate style of performance must be reconstructed on the basis of surviving scores, treatises, instruments and other contemporary evidence." In the later 20th century there was a resurgence of interest in the performance of music from the Medieval and Renaissance eras, and

3888-426: The pianist and composer Eduard Marxsen . Marxsen had been a personal acquaintance of Beethoven and Schubert , admired the works of Mozart and Haydn , and was a devotee of the music of J. S. Bach . Marxsen conveyed to Brahms the tradition of these composers and ensured that Brahms's own compositions were grounded in that tradition. In 1847 Brahms made his first public appearance as a solo pianist in Hamburg, playing

3960-601: The pop charts in several European countries and receiving five gold discs in sales. Officium's sequel, the 2-CD set Mnemosyne , followed in 1999. The third album, Officium Novum , was released in 2010. Their recordings have also been included in Craig Wright 's Listening to Music textbook for music students and music appreciation . In 2005 the ensemble took part in the Rheingau Musik Festival 's composer's portrait of Arvo Pärt , together with

4032-614: The public that I don't know how I can begin to fulfil them". While in Düsseldorf, Brahms participated with Schumann and Schumann's pupil Albert Dietrich in writing a movement each of a violin sonata for Joachim, the " F-A-E Sonata ", the letters representing the initials of Joachim's personal motto Frei aber einsam ("Free but lonely"). Schumann's accolade led to the first publication of Brahms's works under his own name. Brahms went to Leipzig where Breitkopf & Härtel published his Opp. 1–4 (the Piano Sonatas nos. 1 and 2 ,

4104-704: The recipient of a variety of honours: Ludwig II of Bavaria awarded him the Maximilian Order for Science and Art in 1874, and the music-loving Duke George of Meiningen awarded him the Commander's Cross of the Order of the House of Meiningen in 1881. At this time Brahms also chose to change his image. Having been always clean-shaven, in 1878 he surprised his friends by growing a beard, writing in September to

4176-423: The revival of the harpsichord or the viol . The practice of " historically informed performance " is nevertheless dependent on stylistic inference. According to Margaret Bent , Renaissance notation is not as prescriptive as modern scoring, and there is much that was left to the performer's interpretation: "Renaissance notation is under-prescriptive by our standards; when translated into modern form it acquires

4248-499: The song Heimkehr Op. 7 no. 6) date from 1851. However, Brahms was later assiduous in eliminating all his juvenilia. Even as late as 1880, he wrote to his friend Elise Giesemann to send him his manuscripts of choral music so that they could be destroyed. In 1850 Brahms met the Hungarian violinist Ede Reményi and accompanied him in a number of recitals over the next few years. This was his introduction to "gypsy-style" music such as

4320-432: The summer of 1896 Brahms was diagnosed with jaundice and pancreatic cancer , and later in the year his Viennese doctor diagnosed him with liver cancer , from which his father Jakob had died. His last public appearance was on 7 March 1897, when he saw Hans Richter conduct his Symphony No. 4 ; there was an ovation after each of the four movements. His condition gradually worsened and he died on 3 April 1897, in Vienna at

4392-548: The two remained close, lifelong friends. Brahms never married, perhaps in an effort to focus on his work as a musician and scholar. He was a self-conscious, sometimes severely self-critical composer. Though innovative, his music was considered relatively conservative within the polarized context of the War of the Romantics , an affair in which Brahms regretted his public involvement. His compositions were largely successful, attracting

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4464-488: The winter. Although Brahms entertained the idea of taking up conducting posts elsewhere, he based himself increasingly in Vienna and soon made it his home. In 1863, he was appointed conductor of the Wiener Singakademie . He surprised his audiences by programming many works by the early German masters such as Heinrich Schütz and J. S. Bach, and other early composers such as Giovanni Gabrieli ; more recent music

4536-546: The world stage. Baptised into the Lutheran church as an infant and confirmed at age fifteen in St. Michael's Church , Brahms has been described as an agnostic and a humanist. The devout Catholic Antonín Dvořák wrote in a letter: "Such a man, such a fine soul – and he believes in nothing! He believes in nothing!" When asked by conductor Karl Reinthaler to add additional explicitly religious text to his German Requiem , Brahms

4608-412: The years to ever better accommodation in Hamburg. Johann Jakob gave his son his first musical training; Johannes also learnt to play the violin and the basics of playing the cello. From 1840 he studied piano with Otto Friedrich Willibald Cossel. Cossel complained in 1842 that Brahms "could be such a good player, but he will not stop his never-ending composing." At the age of 10, Brahms made his debut as

4680-432: Was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period . His music is rooted in the structures and compositional techniques of his Classical (and earlier) forebears, including Ludwig van Beethoven and Johann Sebastian Bach . It includes four symphonies , four concertos , a Requiem , and many songs, among other music for symphony orchestra, piano, organ, voices, and chamber ensembles. Born to

4752-436: Was appointed as a horn player in the Hamburg militia. He married Johanna Henrika Christiane Nissen the same year. A middle-class seamstress 17 years his senior, she enjoyed writing letters and reading despite an apparently limited education. Johannes Brahms was born in 1833. His sister Elisabeth (Elise) had been born in 1831 and a younger brother Fritz Friedrich was born in 1835. The family then lived in poor apartments in

4824-704: Was leaked to the press, and the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik published a parody which ridiculed Brahms and his associates as backward-looking. Brahms never again ventured into public musical polemics. Brahms's personal life was also troubled. In 1859 he became engaged to Agathe von Siebold. The engagement was soon broken off, but even after this Brahms wrote to her: "I love you! I must see you again, but I am incapable of bearing fetters. Please write me ... whether ... I may come again to clasp you in my arms, to kiss you, and tell you that I love you." They never saw one another again, and Brahms later confirmed to

4896-449: Was named an honorary citizen of Hamburg . Brahms and Johann Strauss II were acquainted in the 1870s, but their close friendship belongs to the years 1889 and after. Brahms admired much of Strauss's music and encouraged the composer to sign with his publisher Simrock. In autographing a fan for Strauss's wife Adele, Brahms wrote the opening notes of The Blue Danube waltz, adding the words "unfortunately not by Johannes Brahms". He made

4968-695: Was replaced by Steven Harrold. The Hilliard Ensemble, under Paul Hillier, had an extensive discography with EMI 's Reflexe early music series during the 1980s. The ensemble then recorded mainly for the ECM label. In 1994, when popular interest in Gregorian chant was at its height, the ensemble released the CD Officium , an unprecedented collaboration with the Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek . The disc became one of ECM's biggest-selling releases, reaching

5040-685: Was represented by works of Beethoven and Felix Mendelssohn . Brahms also wrote works for the choir, including his Motet, Op. 29. Finding however that the post encroached too much of the time he needed for composing, he left the choir in June 1864. From 1864 to 1876 he spent many of his summers in Lichtental , where Clara Schumann and her family also spent some time. His house in Lichtental, where he worked on many of his major compositions including A German Requiem and his middle-period chamber works,

5112-649: Was taking on the model of models [for a symphony]: Beethoven's Fifth ." Despite the warm reception the First Symphony received, Brahms remained dissatisfied and extensively revised the second movement before the work was published. There followed a succession of well-received orchestral works: the Second Symphony Op. 73 (1877), the Violin Concerto Op. 77 (1878; dedicated to Joachim, who was consulted closely during its composition), and

5184-465: Was the beginning of a friendship which was lifelong, albeit temporarily derailed when Brahms took the side of Joachim's wife in their divorce proceedings of 1883. Brahms admired Joachim as a composer, and in 1856 they were to embark on a mutual training exercise to improve their skills in (in Brahms's words) "double counterpoint , canons , fugues , preludes or whatever". Bozarth notes that "products of Brahms's study of counterpoint and early music over

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