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Johannes Brahms

German composer

The German composer Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) was born in Hamburg on 7 May 1833. He is regarded as one of the major composers of the 19th century.
Brahms came from humble origins and had to struggle to make a living and building his musical career.
After a study on violin and cello with his father, who played double bass in the City Theater, Brahms mastered piano with Edward Marxsen.

Robert Schumann

The biggest moment in his early career was meeting the influential composer Robert Schumann in 1853 during a tour with the Hungarian violinist Edward Reményi.
Schumann was impressed by Brahm's compositions and wrote an enthusiastic magazine article about him.

Conductor

In 1857 Johannes Brahms was appointed as conductor at the theatre in Detmold, Germany. In 1859 Brahms performed his first major orchestral work, the "Piano Concerto No. 1".
Brahms went to Vienna in 1863 and became director of the Singakademie (Choral Academy). His "German Requiem" was very successful. In this piece he departed from the tradition by using German rather than a Latin text and this composition expressed his sorrow at the death of his mother and Schumann.

Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde

In 1871 Johannes Brahms accepted the directorship of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde (Society of Friends of Music), but after three years he resigned to devote himself to composing.
Richard Wagner wrote several caustic articles against the younger and more conservative Brahms, whose talent threatened Wagner's supremacy.

Classical romantic

Brahms was a "classical romantic", expressing deep feelings in lyrical melodies, which were put in highly structured forms.
Although often object to feminine affection, Brahms was only interested in music.

Clara Schumann

The only woman Johannes Brahms admired and loved was Clara Schumann. He offered help and support to the Schumann family, after the death of the composer, but his love for Clara remained platonic. Deeply affected by Clara's death in 1896, Brahms died a year later in Vienna.
During his life he got many marks of honor, but the crown on his work was the denomination as a Foreign Member of the famous French Academy (l'Academie Française) in 1896.