Milestones of the Millenium: Johannes Brahms

Hopelessly conservative, utterly romantic, hard-bitten and secretive, self-critical to a fault: these are among the many descriptions of the last of the "Three B’s": Johannes Brahms. Performance Today commentator Jan Swafford, author of a recent biography of Brahms, describes the great 19th-century composer as a "man of masks" who hid his personal tenderness and uncertainties behind the crusty exterior of a bearded, beer-guzzling, cigar-smoking bachelor.

Brahms was a fundamentally conservative composer who drew much of his inspiration from the giants of the past whom he revered, especially Bach and Beethoven. Several of his most important works paid direct homage to these predecessors; among them was the Symphony No. 4, which closes with a passacaglia modeled directly after Bach. Despite this conservative nature--which brought Brahms much scorn from elements of the musical world aligned with Richard Wagner--Swafford says Brahms in turn inspired the "musical revolutionaries" who followed him, among them Arnold Schoenberg and Igor Stravinsky.

Brahms was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1833 to a poor family. His father was an itinerant musician who recognized his son’s musical talent. After a few years of playing piano in wharfside brothels, Brahms impressed musical giants, such as the great violinist Joseph Joachim and the composer-pianist couple Robert and Clara Schumann, with his early works.

Joachim and the Schumanns were among the first to experience what Swafford describes as the "Brahms epiphany": the sensation felt by listeners when his music "leaps into your heart." For Joachim, the moment came in 1853 when the 20-year-old composer played his newly-composed song, "Liebestreu" for him. Brahms, Swafford says, "has a singular gift for getting under your skin," especially with his tender, inward-looking music.

Even so, there were points in his career when the public didn’t automatically appreciate the results of Brahms’ genius. One of those times was in 1859 when Brahms played his Piano Concerto No. 1 in Leipzig, shortly after its premiere in Hanover. A few members of the Leipzig audience started to applaud, but they were drowned out by hisses. The work is now one of Brahms’ most popular.

By the time of his death in 1897, Brahms was an enormously popular composer, almost universally recognized as the rightful successor to Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. This popularity came despite the fact that Wagner, Debussy and other composers already had developed new styles and new composers, most notably Stravinsky, within a few years would revolutionize the world of music.

Perhaps the explanation for the enduring popularity of Brahms’ music, Swafford says, is its knack for addressing everyone’s "personal emotions." Works such as the magnificent German Requiem fit the often-used description of Brahms music as "Olympian," Swafford says. But these compositions by a secretive man hiding behind his beard and cigar still have something special to say "for the interior world of each listener."

Listen as Swafford describes the elusive genius of Johannes Brahms, in this installment of Milestones of the Millennium. (This stereo audio segment requires the free RealPlayer 5.0 or higher. You can also listen with a 14.4 connection)

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