A German Requiem (Ein deutsches Requiem), Op. 45 (1868)
Sets German texts from the Luther Bible rather than the Latin Mass for the Dead
Music
Johannes Brahms
1833–1897 · German
Romantic
Brahms was the great classicist of the Romantic era, pouring deep feeling into the traditional forms of symphony, concerto and chamber music. Hailed by Schumann as the heir to Beethoven, he became one of the "Three Bs" alongside Bach and Beethoven, and never wrote an opera.
How to spot them
- ▸Rich, dense, autumnal orchestration with warm horns, violas and clarinets
- ▸Rigorous Classical structures, variations and cross-rhythms (two against three)
- ▸Hungarian-gypsy flavour in the dances, and folk-like lullaby tunes
- ▸Clues about the "Three Bs", Clara Schumann, Joseph Joachim, Vienna, or "Beethoven's Tenth"
Key works — listen
Wiegenlied (Lullaby), Op. 49 No. 4 (1868)
"Guten Abend, gut' Nacht": the world's most famous lullaby
Recording: Brahms - Schumann-Heink · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Hungarian Dances, WoO 1 (esp. No. 5) (1869, 1880)
21 dances for piano four hands; No. 5 is the best known
Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68 (1876)
Dubbed "Beethoven's Tenth"; the finale's big tune echoes the Ode to Joy
Recording: Johannes Brahms · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77 (1878)
Written for his friend Joseph Joachim
Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80 (1880)
Thank-you for a Breslau doctorate, ending with the student song "Gaudeamus igitur"
Recording: Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) (see Musopen for performance author information) · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Quick-fire facts
- •He was born in Hamburg and as a teenager played piano in dockside taverns; he settled in Vienna, where he died in 1897.
- •Schumann's 1853 article "Neue Bahnen" (New Paths) proclaimed the 20-year-old Brahms a genius.
- •He had a lifelong, close friendship with Clara Schumann.
- •The conductor Hans von Bülow coined "the Three Bs" (Bach, Beethoven, Brahms) and called his First Symphony "Beethoven's Tenth".
- •He spent roughly two decades on his First Symphony, finally completing it in 1876 at the age of 43.
- •The Academic Festival Overture's companion piece is the Tragic Overture, Op. 81 ("one laughs, the other weeps").
- •In 1889 he recorded part of his Hungarian Dance No. 1 on an Edison cylinder.
- •He never wrote an opera or a symphonic poem, and was cast as the conservative rival to Wagner and Liszt.
Drill it — 9 cards
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Sources
- Grove Music Online (Oxford University Press) — Brahms, Johannes
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Johannes Brahms