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A Biographical Dictionary Of Musicians, 1900
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1BRAHMS
3shows dull and monotonous. But this is the worst that can be urged against Brahms the composer; and, given a conductor like Bulow, wholly in sympathy with the work and of an analytic turn of mind, passages which under other hands seemed like interminable, dreary wastes, are made to "blossom like the rose." In his treatment of thematic rhythms, B. is a lineal successor of Beethoven; in many of his songs one would say that Schubert lives again, but a Schubert whose intense spontaneity is controlled by a subtler feeling for formal finish. Schubert, Schumann, Franz, and Brahms are the four great figures in the history of the Lied Brahms' powerful individuality reaches the very heart of the poem, the mood in which the poet conceived it, and reflects it in the vocal melody; this vocal melody is so closely interknit with the piano-accompaniment, that both flow on together in one broad, deep current of song. The most important of his song-groups is the setting of the romances from Tieck's "Magelone"; but his best-known, and, in many ways, most beautiful song is "Wie bist du, meine Königin," op. 32. His songs, part-songs, and chamber-music, much of the piano-music, and several of the choral works (notably the "German Requiem," the "Triumphlied," and the "Schicksalslied"), enjoy real and undisputed popularity; his four symphonies, especially Nos. 1 and 4, and the two piano-concertos, are not so unreservedly admired. The tale of his published works reaches nearly 130. He was a model of unremitting, patient industry; he labored, for example, over ten years, off and on, upon his first symphony, which created a profound sensation when produced in 1876; his fame had already been established, however, by his "German Requiem" (1868).
5Brahms the pianist was, in his youth, a brilliant and versatile player, of peculiar note in Bach and other classics. At the age of 20, having to play the Kreutzer Sonata at a concert with Remenyi, the piano was discovered to be a semitone below concert-pitch, there being no time to retune it, B., playing without notes, transposed his part a semitone higher throughout (from A to B♭) [as Beethoven transposed his own concerto in C to C#, at a rehearsal]. But, in the early '70's, his playing had lost its former charm; though still masterly in feeling and intent, it was too insecure in technique and weak in climax to afford full pleasure. It is by his compositions that posterity will judge him; and its verdict will probably be, that he was the grandest, most virile, and most original symphonist and master of the lesser forms, in the latter half of the 19th century.
7BIOGRAPHICAL. H. Reimann. "J. B." (Berlin); H. Deiters: "J. B.: eine Charakteristik" (Leipzig, 1880; Part II, 1898; Engl. transl., w. Supplement, London, 1888); B. Vogel: "Johannes Brahms" (Leipzig); Widmann: "J. B. in Erinnerungen" (Berlin, 1898); A. Dietrich: "Erinnerungen an J. B." (Leipzig, 1898), there is an interesting 95-page sketch of B., by J. A. Fuller Maitland, in "Masters of German Music" (New York, 1896).
9COMPOSITIONS (exclusive of Songs for one voice with pf.) —Op. 1, sonata for pf. in C; 2, sonata for pf. in F♯ min., 4, scherzo for pf. in Eb min., 5, sonata for pf. in F min., 8, trio in B, f pf., vln., and 'cello, 9, variations for pf. on a theme by Schumann; 10, 4 ballads for pf.; 11, serenade for full orch., in D; 12, Ave Maria for female ch. and orch. (or organ); 13, funeral hymn for chorus and wind; 15, pf.-concerto in D min.; 16, serenade for small orch., in A; 17, 4 songs for female ch., 2 horns and harp, 18, sextet No. 1, in B♭, for strings; 20, 3 duets for S. and A with pf.; 21, variations for pf. in D: (1) on original theme; (2) on a Hungarian melody; 22, 7 Marienlieder, for mixed ch., in 2 parts; 23, variations for pf., 4 hands, on theme by Schumann; 24, variations and fugue for pf., on theme by Handel; 25, pf.-quartet No. 1, in G min.; 26, pf.-quartet No. 2, in A; 27, Psalm xxiii for women's voices, with org. (or pf.); 28, 4 duets for alto and bar., w. pf.; 29, 2 motets for 5 voices; 30, Sacred Song (Paul Flemming) f 4 voices, mixed ch., and org.; 31, 3 quartets for S., A., T., and B., w. pf.; 34, pf.-quintet in F min.; 34a, sonata for pf., 4 hands (arr. from op. 34); 35, 28 variations (Studien) for pf.; 36, sextet No. 2, in G, for strings; 37, 3 sacred choruses for female voices, 38, sonata in E min., for pf. and 'cello; 39, 16 waltzes for pf., 4 hands; 40, trio in Eb, for pf., vln., and horn (or 'cello), 41, 5 part-songs for 4 men's voices; 42, 3 songs for 6-p. ch. a cappella; 44, 12 songs and romances for female chorus a cappella; 45, German Requiem, soli, chorus, and orchestra; 50, "Rinaldo," cantata (Goethe), f. ten. solo, male ch., and orch.; 51, 2 string-quartets (C min. and A min.); 52, Liebeslieder, waltzes for pf. and 4 voices; 53, Rhapsodie (from Goethe's "Harzreise"), for alto solo, male ch., and orch.; 54, Schicksalslied [Song of Destiny] (F. Holderlin), f. ch. and orch.; 55, Triumphlied (Revelations, chap. xix), f. 8-p. ch. and orch.; 56, variations f. orch. on a theme by Haydn; 60, pf.-quartet No. 3, in C min.; 61, 4 duets for S. and A.; 62, 7 songs for mixed ch.; 64, 3 vocal quartets with pf.; 65, Neue Liebeslieder, waltzes for 4 vcs. and pf.; 66, 5 duets, S. and A.; 67, string-quartet No. 3, in B♭; 68, symphony No. 1, C min.; 73, symphony No. 2, in D; 74, 2 motets f. mixed ch.; 75, 4 ballads and romances f. 2 vcs. w. pf.; 76, 8 piano-pieces; 77, violin-concerto in D; 78, sonata for pf. and vln., in G; 79, 2 Rhapsodies for pf. (B min. and G min.); 80, Akademische Festouverture, f orch.; 81, Tragische Ouvertüre, f. orch.; 82, Nänie (Schiller), f. ch. and orch.; 83, pf.-concerto No. 2, in B♭; 84, 5 romances and songs, f. 1 or 2 voices; 87, pf.-trio in C; 88, string-quintet in F; 89, Gesang der Parzen (Goethe), for 6-part ch. and orch.; 90, symphony No. 3, in F; 91, 2 songs for alto, w. viola and pf.; 92, 4 vocal quartets with pf.;
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