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Brahms

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Brahms: 15 facts about the great composer

Johannes Brahms is one of the Romantic period's most revered and popular composers - but how much do you really know? Here are 15 essential facts about the great man.

  1. hamburg bridge

    1. Brahms is born!

    Johannes Brahms was born on May 7th 1833 in Hamburg, Germany.

  2. jakob brahms, Brahms' father

    2. Son to a musical spare man

    Brahms' father, Jokob (pictured), found employment as a jobbing musician, mostly getting work from playing the double bass and the French horn.

  3. Piano Player

    3. Earning a crust

    The young Brahms was forced to play the piano in dance halls to contribute to the family's income as they were so poor.

  4. johannes brahms

    4. Embarrassing early compositions?

    An early starter, Brahms began composing when he was just 11. However, when he was older, he found them a bit embarrassing and destroyed the majority of them.

  5. Franz Liszt

    5. Sleeping on the job

    Brahms apparently upset his host when he saw Liszt perform his own Sonata in B Minor at the Court of Weimar. Claiming that he was exhausted from travelling, Brahms fell asleep while the work was being played.

  6. Robert Schumann

    6. New Paths

    Robert Schumann was so impressed with Brahms' talent when they met that he was inspired to write an essay entitled 'Neue Bahnen' ('New Paths') which gave Brahms a lot of publicity.

  7. brahms and Eduard Remenyi

    7. Gypsy influence

    Brahms met a Hungarian refugee and violinist by the name of Eduard Remenyi (left) in 1850, and was introduced to a whole range of folk and gypsy music that massively influenced his composing style.

  8. Johannes Brahms

    8. An epic first symphony

    Although Brahms began composing his first symphony in 1854, it wasn't premiered until November 1876, 22 years later. The whole piece underwent severe edits until he was completely happy with it.

  9. Clara Schumann

    9. A shoulder to cry on

    When Schumann died in 1856, Brahms immediately went to Düsseldorf to be with Schumann's wife, Clara. It's unclear exactly what kind of relationship the two had, but they destroyed a large amount of their letters to each other, possibly suggesting that they had something to hide…

  10. Johannes Brahms

    10. The War of the Romantics

    The so-called War of the Romantics was basically a musical argument between composers like Wagner and Liszt, who represented a more radical approach to music, and more conservative artists like Brahms and Clara Schumann. As a result, Brahms has always been seen as something of an old-fashioned composer, despite still being extremely popular today.

  11. italy mountain

    11. An outdoor type

    Brahms was very much an outdoors-y sort. When he wasn't travelling around Europe for concert tours, he was fond of travelling to the hills of Italy for walking holidays and to retreat for solitary composing.

  12. timpani

    12. Inspired by grief

    When his mother died in 1865, Brahms was overcome with grief. It is speculated that this led him to compose his German Requiem, one of the most celebrated works from his career. However, the premiere of the piece was a disaster - the timpanist misread the dynamics as 'ff' (very loud) instead of 'pf' (quiet) and drowned the other musicians out.

  13. richard wagner

    13. Wagner - not a fan

    Perhaps due to their musical opposition to one another, Wagner (pictured) and Brahms weren't exactly best friends when they met in Vienna in 1864, after Brahms moved there to direct the Vienna Singakademie. Wagner later attacked Brahms in the press.

  14. clarinet

    14. Early retirement?

    When he was 57, Brahms announced that he was finished with composing. However, he was clearly unable to stop his creativity - he produced some incredible late-period works, especially for the clarinet, like his Clarinet Sonatas, Trio and Quintet.

  15. Hubert Parry

    15. Death

    Brahms died of either pancreatic or liver cancer (evidence is unclear) on April 3rd 1897. The British composer Hubert Parry (pictured) composed a musical tribute to him, his Elegy for Brahms, in the same year.

Brahms News

See more Brahms News

Brahms in Bremen

This orchestra performed Brahms’ Requiem in the place where it was premiered 150 years earlier

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

Catch up with our LIVE Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra concert

baby lullaby brahms

Watch this dad send his baby to sleep by playing a beautiful Brahms lullaby

Brahms Music

See more Brahms Music

Acapella clarinet Hungarian Dance

This 4-part clarinet cover of Brahms’s Hungarian Dance is an absolute aural delight

New releases Monday 5th June

New releases: Pop Goes Classical and Brahms with the Boston Symphony Orchestra

New Releases 16th January

New Releases: Elbphilharmonie with Brahms and the latest Tchaikovsky album from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

Discover Music

Brahms Pictures

See more Brahms Pictures

classical music on stamps

The most beautiful classical music postage stamps

Discover Music

Maria Callas

Diva moments in classical music

Brahms Album Reviews

See more Brahms Album Reviews

New releases 12th March 2018

New Releases: Mozart's Violin Concertos performed by Nikolaj Znaider and Brahms' Piano Concertos played by Adam Laloum

new releases 1st may

New releases: Beethoven with the Royal Northern Sinfonia & Lars Vogt and 'Strauss in St Petersburg'

new releases 10th april

New releases: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra plays Brahms and Beethoven with the London Philharmonic Orchestra

Brahms Guides

See more Brahms Guides

Musical feuds

Why did these composers have life-long musical feuds?

Marin Alsop conducting masterclass

Marin Alsop’s Classic FM Conducting Masterclass: how to conduct Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7

Marin Alsop

Daniel Barenboim and Gustavo Dudamel Brahms

Daniel Barenboim and Gustavo Dudamel have recorded absolutely stonking Brahms concertos (and you can hear it all week)

Daniel Barenboim

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