The stature of Johannes Brahms among classical composers is well illustrated by his inclusion among the "Three Bs" triumvirate of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. Of all the major composers of the late Romantic era, Brahms was the one most attached to the Classical ideal as manifested in the music of Haydn, Mozart, and especially Beethoven; indeed, Hans von Bülow once characterized Brahms' Symphony No. 1 (1855-1876) as "Beethoven's Tenth." As aRead more youth, Brahms was championed by Robert Schumann as music's greatest hope for the future; as a mature composer, Brahms became for conservative musical journalists the most potent symbol of musical tradition, a stalwart against the "degeneration" represented by the music of Wagner and his school. Brahms' symphonies, choral and vocal works, chamber music, and piano pieces are imbued with strong emotional feeling, yet take shape according to a thoroughly considered structural plan.
The son of a double bassist in the Hamburg Philharmonic Society, Brahms demonstrated great promise from the beginning. He began his musical career as a pianist, contributing to the family coffers as a teenager by playing in restaurants, taverns, and even brothels. Though by his early twenties he enjoyed associations with luminaries like violinists Eduard Reményi and Joseph Joachim, the friend and mentor who was most instrumental in advancing his career was Schumann, who all but adopted him and became his most ardent partisan, and their esteem was mutual. Following Schumann's death in 1856, Brahms became the closest confidant and lifelong friend of the composer's widow, pianist and composer Clara Wieck Schumann. After a life of spectacular musical triumphs and failed loves (the composer was involved in several romantic entanglements but never wed), Brahms died of liver cancer on April 3, 1897.
In every genre in which he composed, Brahms produced works that have become staples of the repertory. His most ambitious work, the German Requiem (1863-1867), is the composer's singular reinterpretation of an age-old form. The four symphonies -- lushly scored, grand in scope, and deeply expressive -- are cornerstones of the symphonic literature. Brahms' concertos are, similarly, in a monumental, quasi-symphonic vein: the two piano concertos (1856-1859 and 1881) and the Violin Concerto (1878) call for soloists with both considerable technical skill and stamina. His chamber music is among the most sophisticated and exquisitely crafted of the Romantic era; for but a single example, his works that incorporate the clarinet (e.g., the Trio in A minor, Op. 114 and the two Sonatas, Op. 120), an instrument largely overlooked by his contemporaries, remain unsurpassed. Though the piano sonata never held for Brahms the same appeal it had for Beethoven (Brahms wrote three to Beethoven's 32), he produced a voluminous body of music for the piano. He showed a particular affinity for variations -- notably, on themes of Schumann (1854), Handel (1861), and Paganini (1862-1863) -- and likewise produced a passel of national dances and character pieces such as ballades, intermezzi, and rhapsodies. Collectively, these constitute one of the essential bodies of work in the realm of nineteenth century keyboard music. Read less
Label: Emi Classics
Catalog: 90450
Release Date: 02/10/2004
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Johann Sebastian Bach,
Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Igor Oistrakh,
David Oistrakh,
Yehudi Menuhin,
Mstislav Rostropovich
Conductor:
Yehudi Menuhin,
Pierre Capdevielle,
Kiril Kondrashin
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra,
ORTF National Orchestra
Label: Emi Classics Encore
Catalog: 75865
Release Date: 06/10/2003
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Johannes Brahms,
Antonín Dvorák
Performer:
Paul Tortelier,
Yehudi Menuhin
Conductor:
Paavo Berglund,
André Previn
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Philharmonic Orchestra,
London Symphony Orchestra
Label: Philips
Catalog: 473267
Release Date: 01/14/2003
Number of Discs: 3
Composer:
Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Henryk Szeryng,
János Starker,
Alfred Brendel
Conductor:
Bernard Haitink,
Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Label: Music & Arts Programs Of America
Catalog: 1083
Release Date: 05/22/2001
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Johannes Brahms,
Felix Mendelssohn
Performer:
Hermann Busch,
Adolf Busch,
Bruno Straumann,
Hugo Gottesmann
...
Conductor:
Paul Kletzki
Orchestra/Ensemble:
French National Radio Orchestra,
Busch String Quartet
Label: Cbs Masterworks
Catalog: 42024
Release Date: 05/20/2001
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Johannes Brahms,
Robert Schumann
Performer:
Zino Francescatti,
Pierre Fournier,
Eugene Istomin
Conductor:
Bruno Walter
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Columbia Symphony Orchestra
Recommendation
Label: Eloquence
Catalog: 4643692
Release Date: 02/28/2000
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Johannes Brahms,
Felix Mendelssohn
Performer:
Henryk Szeryng,
János Starker,
Jaap Van Zweden,
Ronald Brautigam
Conductor:
Bernard Haitink
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra,
Royal Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra
Label: Rca Victor Living Stereo
Catalog: 63531
Release Date: 01/11/2000
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Johann Sebastian Bach,
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Jascha Heifetz,
Erick Friedman,
Thornton Lofthouse,
William Primrose
...
Conductor:
Sir Malcolm Sargent,
Izler Solomon,
Alfred Wallenstein
Orchestra/Ensemble:
New Symphony Orchestra,
RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra
Label: Emi Great Recordings Of The Century
Catalog: 66954
Release Date: 03/09/1999
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Ludwig van Beethoven,
Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Sviatoslav Richter,
Mstislav Rostropovich,
David Oistrakh
Conductor:
Herbert von Karajan,
George Szell
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra,
Cleveland Orchestra
Recommendation
Label: Music & Arts Programs Of America
Catalog: 1018
Release Date: 04/21/1998
Number of Discs: 4
Composer:
Johannes Brahms,
Ludwig van Beethoven,
Richard Wagner,
Robert Schumann
Performer:
Enrico Mainardi,
Wolfgang Schneiderhan,
Yehudi Menuhin,
Adrian Aeschbacher
Conductor:
Wilhelm Furtwängler
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Label: Emi Classics Special Import
Catalog: 56385
Release Date: 10/14/1997
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Heinrich Schiff,
Frank Peter Zimmermann,
Marie-Luise Neunecker,
Wolfgang Sawallisch
Conductor:
Wolfgang Sawallisch
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Recommendation
Label: Teldec
Catalog: 15870
Release Date: 05/27/1997
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Johannes Brahms,
Felix Mendelssohn
Performer:
Itzhak Perlman,
Yo-Yo Ma
Conductor:
Daniel Barenboim
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Label: Emi Classics Double Fforte
Catalog: 69331
Release Date: 08/13/1996
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Johannes Brahms,
Sergei Prokofiev,
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:
Pierre Fournier,
David Oistrakh,
Lev Oborin,
Sviatoslav Knushevitzky
Conductor:
Alceo Galliera,
David Oistrakh,
Sir Malcolm Sargent
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Philharmonia Orchestra
Label: Live Classics
Catalog: 175
Release Date: 05/21/1996
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Johannes Brahms,
Felix Mendelssohn,
Franz Schubert
Performer:
Oleg Kagan
Conductor:
Arnold Katz,
Kurt Masur
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Novosibirsk Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra,
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
Label: Orfeo D'or
Catalog: 359941
Release Date: 11/17/1995
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Johannes Brahms,
Franz Schubert,
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performer:
Enrico Mainardi,
Wolfgang Schneiderhan
Conductor:
Karl Böhm
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Label: Sony
Catalog: 64479
Release Date: 10/31/1995
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Johannes Brahms,
Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:
Zino Francescatti,
Pierre Fournier,
Walter Hendl,
Leonard Rose
...
Conductor:
Bruno Walter
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Columbia Symphony Orchestra,
New York Philharmonic
Recommendation
Label: Naxos
Catalog: 8550938
Release Date: 06/27/1995
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Johannes Brahms,
Robert Schumann
Performer:
Maria Kliegel,
Ilya Kaler
Conductor:
Andrew Constantine
Orchestra/Ensemble:
National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland
Label: Intercord Klassische Diskothek
Catalog: 25924
Release Date: 05/23/1995
Number of Discs: 3
Composer:
Johannes Brahms
Performer:
Mark Kaplan,
David Geringas,
Dieter Goldmann
Conductor:
Michael Gielen,
Hans Swarowsky,
Alfred Scholz
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra,
South German Philharmonic Orchestra,
Munich Symphony Orchestra
Label: Sony
Catalog: 66941
Release Date: 05/16/1995
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Johannes Brahms,
Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:
Leonard Rose,
Isaac Stern,
Eugene Istomin
Conductor:
Eugene Ormandy,
Zubin Mehta,
Daniel Barenboim
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Philadelphia Orchestra,
New York Philharmonic