JOHANNES BRAHMS

Complete Works - Oeuvre intégrale - Gesamtwerk

Digital Guide: Printable version of item 3, Biography (5)

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 Biography
Johannes Brahms
born in Hamburg (Germany) 7 May 1833; died in Vienna (Austria), 3 April 1897

Johannes Brahms’ father, Johann Jakob, was the first in his family to take up music as a career. He did so against his father’s wishes and started
out as a street and dance musician, later on joining the Hamburg city orchestra playing the double bass. Johannes’ mother, Johanna Nissen, had
been his father’s housekeeper before she married Johann Jakob. Johannes was their second child. His younger brother, Fritz, became a musician
as well.

Joahnnes most probably received his first music lessons from his father. At seven his piano lessons were put in the hands of Otto F.W. Cossel
and soon his considerable talent for this instrument showed itself. His piano teacher referred Brahms to Eduard Marxsen for training in music
theory. Being from a family of moderate income a very young Brahms started to earn a living by playing the piano in cafés and brothels. He
soon started to compose and gained plenty of experience in arranging particularly for the small orchestra his father was a member of. This also
brought him into contact with the popular ‘alla zingarese’ style associated with Hungarian folk music which he applied immediately. His knowl-
edge of and enthusiasm for this music was furthered after his becoming acquainted in 1850 with the Hungarian violinist Eduard Hoffman (or
Reményi in Hungarian) with whom he made a concert tour a few years later.

After the suppression by the Austrians and Russians of the Hungarian uprising in 1848 many Hungarian fugitives passed through Germany on
their way to the United States of America. Some stayed on and playing their (folk) music met with sympathy, creating a craze for anything
Hungarian. Brahms’ interest in the irregular rhythms and triplets started early and kept recurring also in his mature works.

At fifteen Johannes Brahms made his debut as a pianist giving a solo concert. He continued to perform as a pianist both accompanying and as a
soloist his entire life. Together with violinist Joseph Joachim, whom he met when touring with Hoffman, he made several concert tours. The two
musicians also became life long friends, although their relationship occasionally suffered because of Brahms’ sometimes less than sociable per-
sonality. Brahms wrote his violin concerto for Joachim and dedicated it to him.

Schumann
It was also this violinist who encouraged him to meet Robert Schumann. Although previously a parcel of Brahms compositions had been
returned unopened by Schumann, when introduced to Brahms’ music this time (September 1853) Robert reacted more than favourably by
announcing Brahms as ‘a young eagle’ in his famous article ‘Neue Bahnen’ in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik’ soon afterwards. This marked the
start of an intense friendship with both Schumanns, Robert and Clara. Robert’s nervous breakdown made Brahms return from Hamburg to
Düsseldorf. Developing romantic feelings for Clara at the time, which, were not reciprocated.

Over the years Brahms became more and more involved with choir practice and conducting. He conducted a choir in Detmold at the court for a
couple of years. Here he also had the opportunity to work with a full orchestra for the first time, which resulted in his two Serenades. In 1859,
having distanced himself from Clara Schumann and Agathe Siebold, whom he had hoped to marry, Brahms returned to Hamburg where he
founded a women’s chorus. For these 12 to 40 voices he arranged and wrote numerous pieces of music.
In the same year he premiered his fist piano concerto which had a mixed reception thus illustrating Brahms’ trouble being recognized as com-
poser, mainly because he did not have the musical establishment (i.e. representatives of the New German School) behind him. His – together
with Jochim, J.O. Grimm and B. Scholz - rejecting the artistic and aesthetic principles of Liszt c.s. did not improve matters. This also prevented
him from securing a much desired permanent conducting post in Hamburg. This in spite of the appreciation of some his compositions, such as
both serenades for orchestra and the piano quartets. The composer himself received an increasing number of invitations to conduct his own
work. Simrock in Vienna became his regular publisher.

Vienna
Besides giving concerts of his own music, Brahms made tours throughout northern and central Europe playing a wider repertoire, but after 1868
he concentrated on works of his own. Wanting to establish an indisputable reputation for himself in the musical capital of Europe he settled per-
manently in Vienna in 1868. He thus found new and old friends and give his career a major boost. He finally won a position of influence in
1863, becoming director of the Vienna Singakademie, with which he mainly performed historical and modern a cappella works. Brahms had
been studying early music, including works by Bach Schütz and Gabrieli, from early on. He had to leave the Singakademie after only one sea-
son because the administrative burden, to mention but one of the problems, was too heavy for him and did not leave him enough time for his
single priority, composing. He did begin teaching the piano though, mainly because he was requested to.
Brahms’ mother died in 1865. His father remarried soon afterwards. His new bride was 18 years his junior. Brahms was on good terms with her and
her son, providing for them after his father’s death. Between 1872 and 1875 Brahms was the conductor of the Vienna Gesellschaftskonzerte, again
introducing the public to music by Bach and Handel. Once more he resigned because of his lacking time for composing. By then Johannes had
become a famous and internationally respected composer with many major works to his name, including the German Requiem, his popular
Variations on a theme by Haydn – securing Brahms a solid position as a successful composer - and his first piano concerto. The income from his
concert and royalties amounted to such a sum that he could be called reasonably well-off. And his symphonies were still to come.
His stature was also being recognized abroad now. But Brahms refused an honorary doctorate in music at Cambridge twice – Joachim did

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 Biography
accept though. He was made a member of the renowned Académie Française. The premiere of the first symphony – after years of doubt and
rewriting – took place on November 4 1876 in Karlsruhe. This was at the beginning of an enormously productive period. Until 1879 Brahms
composed, among other things, his violin concerto, a violin sonata, several songs opus 69-72, piano pieces, a large part of his second symphony
and both Rhapsodies opus 79. Between 1878 and 1893 he also managed to travel to Italy no less than eight times. His Academic Festival
Overture was written to thank the University of Breslau for his honorary doctorate in 1879. Only a few months earlier he had – finally - been
enthusiastically received in his native town Hamburg after performances of the second symphony and the violin concerto.

During the summer, his most productive time, Brahms frequently stayed at Bad Ischl. From 1889 onwards he actually spent most summers
there. In the mean time he composed several pieces of chamber music such as two piano trio’s and the quintet opus 82. In 1881 his friendship
with the famous conductor and pianist Hans von Bülow started. – At the same time he lost the friendship of violinist Joachim (in a row over his
wife), with whom he only resumed contact six years later. - Von Bülow offered Brahms the Meiningen court orchestra to rehearse with. Thus he
was able to work and publicly perform with the orchestra, starting a Brahms tradition with this ensemble. To thank the Duke of Meiningen for
an order Brahms wrote the Gesang der Parzen in 1882. He remained on intimate terms with both duke and duchess until his death.

The third symphony was written in Wiesbaden in one flash of inspiration in 1883. Making his acquaintance with singer Hermine Spies here also
resulted in quite a number of new songs. Within a year Brahms also began writing his last, fourth symphony. It was finished the following year
and immediately after its first performance the composer toured Germany and the Netherlands extensively with the Meiningen orchestra playing
it. 1886 was another summer of chamber music compositions. The double concerto (1887) was well received by the critics, but the public did
not particularly like it.

More honours were bestowed on Brahms. He was presented with ‘Pour la Mérite’ of the Order of Peace in Germany and made Commander of
the Order of Leopold by the Austrian emperor. And –better late than never – his native Hamburg made him freeman of the city. This resulted in
the Fest- und Gedenksprüche opus 109, dedicated to the city and performed at the Hamburg Exhibition of Trade and Industry. By 1890 he had
decided to stop composing altogether but nevertheless wrote some of his best instrumental pieces over the following years. These were mainly
inspired by clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld whose performances of concertos by Weber and Mozart had really touched Brahms and for whom he
wrote his Clarinet trio and quintet and later on several sonatas. Clara Schumann died in 1896 with Brahms attending the funeral. Less than a
year later he himself passed away from cancer of the liver. He was 63 and buried in Vienna. At the time he had been the most important con-
temporary composer in Western Europe.