Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897) was a German composer,
pianist, and conductor of the Romantic period. Born in
Hamburg into a Lutheran family, Brahms spent much of
his professional life in Vienna. His reputation and
status as a composer are such that he is sometimes
grouped with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van
Beethoven as one of the "Three Bs" of music, a comment
originally made by the nineteenth-century conductor
Hans von Bülow.
The stature of Johannes Brahms among classical
comp...(+)
Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897) was a German composer,
pianist, and conductor of the Romantic period. Born in
Hamburg into a Lutheran family, Brahms spent much of
his professional life in Vienna. His reputation and
status as a composer are such that he is sometimes
grouped with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van
Beethoven as one of the "Three Bs" of music, a comment
originally made by the nineteenth-century conductor
Hans von Bülow.
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 a youth, Brahms was championed
by Robert Schumann as music's greatest hope for the
future; as a mature composer, Brahms became the most
potent symbol of musical traditio for conservative
musical journalists, 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 20s 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 19th century keyboard music.
His Scherzo in Eb Minor (Opus 4) is the earliest work
of Brahms that can be accurately dated. Amazingly, the
kind of pianism associated with the mature Brahms is
already present: parallel thirds and sixths, the thick,
chordal style, and the contrapuntal texture. Formally,
the strongest influence seems to be Chopin (although
Brahms denied this in later years). The independent
Scherzo, as developed by Chopin, seems evident
throughout. The Scherzo is structured in discrete
sections, with two Trios rather than the usual one.
Like Chopin's Fourth Scherzo, the Scherzo sections here
are actually loosely structured sonata forms, including
development. Brahms' willingness to explore unusual key
relationships is evident here, as is his interest in
thematic coherence and development. This is a
remarkable early work.
Source: Allmusic
(https://www.allmusic.com/artist/johannes-brahms-mn0000
796908/biography)
Although originally composed for solo Piano, I created
this Interpretation of the Scherzo in Eb Minor (Opus 4)
for Woodwind Quintet (Flute, Oboe, Bb Clarinet, French
Horn & Bassoon).
