Ladies and gentlemen,
I am Johannes Brahms and it is an honor to be asked by Classical Archives to tell you something about myself and my compositions. But it is a curious thing to look back upon a life through the lens of music.
I was born in Hamburg in 1833, the son of a modest musician. My earliest days were filled with the sounds of the docks, of sailors’ songs, and of my father’s double bass. From these beginnings, I discovered that music was not merely entertainment — it was a language, capable of speaking directly to the soul.
As a young man, fate led me to Robert and Clara Schumann. Robert, with his immense generosity, declared me a torchbearer of the future. Clara, whose artistry and spirit sustained me for decades, remained one of the deepest friendships of my life. Though I never married, her presence was a constant inspiration. Some say I gave my heart to her; I know that I entrusted her with my truest self. I have to admit that their faith in me was both a blessing and a weight — for to be hailed as the heir to Beethoven is an honor no composer accepts lightly.
My music, like my life, changed with the years. In youth, as I said before, I wrestled with the shadow of Beethoven: striving for grandeur and architecture in my symphonies.
I labored for years before I allowed my First Symphony into the world, and some say they hear Beethoven’s tread within it. Perhaps so — but I sought always to find my own voice, balancing the rigor of tradition with the fire of my own heart. The symphonies, the concertos, the chamber works — all are attempts to capture both discipline and passion, structure and song.
Yet it is not the grand works alone that tell my story. I have always cherished the smaller forms — lieder, intermezzi, dances. In these intimate pieces, you may hear something closer to my truest self: moments of melancholy, of tenderness, of humor. For music, I believe, is not only a monument, but also a confidant — a companion in the quiet hours of life.
As time passed, my voice grew more inward. In the later works — the clarinet quintet, the intermezzi, the late piano pieces — you may hear a man turning toward reflection, melancholy, even resignation. There was fire in my early pages, twilight in the last.
In 1897, my journey reached its end in Vienna, the city that had embraced me as one of its own. I departed this world with Clara’s memory still near my heart — she herself having died the year before. Yet I take comfort in knowing that my notes may still speak when I no longer can. If they give solace to sorrow, or joy to the heart, then my work has not been in vain.
Thank you.
A Selection of Works by Johannes Brahms Available for Listening on Classical Archives
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Chamber Works
- Piano Quartet No.1 in G-, Op.25
- Piano Quartet No.3 in C-, Op.60
- Piano Quintet in F-, Op.34
- Piano Trio No.1 in B, Op.8
- Piano Trio No.2 in C, Op.87
- Piano Trio No.3 in C-, Op.101
- Piano Trio No.4 in A, Anh.4/5
- Piano Quartet No.2 in A, Op.26
- String Quartet No.1 in C-, Op.51, No.1
- String Quartet No.2 in A-, Op.51, No.2
- String Quartet No.3 in Bb, Op.67
- String Quintet No.1 in F (‘Spring’), Op.88
- String Quintet No.2 in G, Op.111
- String Sextet No.1 in Bb, Op.18
- String Sextet No.2 in G, Op.36
Concertos
- Double Concerto in A- for Violin and Cello, Op.102
- Piano Concerto No.1 in D-, Op.15
- Piano Concerto No.2 in Bb, Op.83
- Violin Concerto in D, Op.77
Orchestral Works
- Symphony No.1 in C-, Op.68
- Symphony No.2 in D, Op.73
- Symphony No.3 in F, Op.90
- Symphony No.4 in E-, Op.98
- Academic Festival Overture in C-, Op.80
- Serenade for Orchestra No.1 in D, Op.11
- Serenade for Orchestra No.2 in A, Op.16
- Tragic Overture in D-, Op.81
- Variations on a Theme of Haydn in Bb (‘St. Anthony Variations’), Op.56a
Songs
Choral Works
- Gesang der Parzen (‘Es fürchte die Götter’), Op.89
- Alto Rhapsody, for alto, male chorus, and orchestra, Op.53
- Ein deutsches Requiem (German Requiem), for soprano, baritone, chorus and orchestra, Op.45
Keyboard Works
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