!!!Brahms, Johannes

b. Hamburg (Germany), May 7, 1833, 
d. Vienna, April 3, 1897, composer; came from a lower middle-class 
background (his father was a musician), child prodigy. Met C. and R. 
Schumann in 1853 (maintained a lifelong close friendship with C. 
Schumann). After some years of travel B. moved to Vienna, temporarily 
in 1862, in 1878 permanently. Vienna became like a second home along 
with other Austrian towns such as Bad Ischl, Poertschach and 
Muerzzuschlag. In 1862 became manager of the Vienna Singers' Academy 
and 1872-1875 conducted the concerts of the Gesellschaft der  
Musikfreunde in Wien. Although he tried to obtain steady employment 
several times, he finally considered his independence too precious. B. 
is said to have perfected the style of the  Viennese Classicism and 
was regarded as the long-awaited artist who could finally emulate and 
develop the style of L. van  Beethoven, the model for many 19th 
century composers; of special importance are B.'s chamber music and 
his lieder. Among his closest friends were T.  Billroth, E.  Hanslick 
and M.  Kalbeck.

!Works
4 symphonies, 2 serenades, 4 concertos, vocal pieces with 
orchestra, organ music, choral music, lieder, chamber music.

!Literature
M. Kalbeck, Johannes Brahms, 4 vols., 1915; Brahms 
Briefwechsel, 16 vols., 1906ff., ed. by the Brahms society; W. 
Rehberg, Johannes Brahms, 1948; F. Grasberger, Johannes Brahms, 1952; 
H. Becker, Brahms, 1993; C. M. Schmidt, Reclams Musikfuehrer Johannes 
Brahms, 1994.



%%language
[Back to the Austrian Version|AEIOU/Brahms,_Johannes|class='wikipage austrian']
%%

[{FreezeArticle author='AEIOU' template='Lexikon_1995_englisch'}]
[{ALLOW view All}][{ALLOW comment All}][{ALLOW edit FreezeAdmin}]