Andrey Kurbsky years. Dissident number one

As long as there are people who are capable of responding to music with all their hearts, and as long as Brahms’s music generates precisely such a response in them, this music will live.
G. Gal

Having entered musical life as the successor of R. Schumann in romanticism, J. Brahms followed the path of a broad and individual implementation of traditions different eras German-Austrian music and German culture in general. During the period of development of new genres of program and theatrical music (F. Liszt, R. Wagner), Brahms, who turned mainly to classical instrumental forms and genres, seemed to prove their viability and promise, enriching them with the skill and attitude of a modern artist. No less significant are vocal works (solo, ensemble, choral), in which the range of tradition is especially felt - from the experience of the Renaissance masters to modern everyday music and romantic lyrics.

Brahms was born into a musical family. His father, who went through a difficult journey from a wandering artisan musician to a double bassist with the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra, gave his son initial skills in playing various string and wind instruments, but Johannes was more attracted to the piano. Success in his studies with F. Kossel (later with the famous teacher E. Marxen) allowed him to take part in a chamber ensemble at the age of 10, and at 15 to give a solo concert. WITH early years Brahms helped his father support his family, playing piano in port taverns, making arrangements for the publisher Kranz, working as a pianist in opera house etc. Before leaving Hamburg (April 1853) on a tour with the Hungarian violinist E. Remenyi (from the folk tunes performed in concerts, the famous “Hungarian Dances” for piano 4 and 2 hands were subsequently born), he was already the author of numerous works in various genres, mostly destroyed.

The very first published works (3 sonatas and a scherzo for piano, songs) revealed the early creative maturity of the twenty-year-old composer. They aroused the admiration of Schumann, whose meeting in the autumn of 1853 in Düsseldorf determined the entire subsequent life of Brahms. Schumann's music (its influence was especially directly felt in the Third Sonata - 1853, in the Variations on a Theme of Schumann - 1854 and in the last of the four ballads - 1854), the whole atmosphere of his home, the closeness artistic interests(in his youth, Brahms, like Schumann, was fond of romantic literature - Jean-Paul, T. A. Hoffmann, Eichendorff, etc.) had a huge impact on the young composer. At the same time, the responsibility for the fate of German music, as if Schumann placed it on Brahms (he recommended him to Leipzig publishers, wrote an enthusiastic article about him “New Paths”), the catastrophe that soon followed (the suicide attempt made by Schumann in 1854, his stay in mental hospital, where Brahms visited him, finally, Schumann's death in 1856), a romantic feeling of passionate attachment to Clara Schumann, whom Brahms devotedly helped during these hard days, - all this exacerbated the dramatic tension of Brahms’ music, its stormy spontaneity (First Concerto for Piano and Orchestra - 1854-59; sketches for the First Symphony, Third Piano Quartet, completed much later).

In terms of his way of thinking, at the same time, Brahms was initially characterized by a desire for objectivity, for strict logical orderliness, characteristic of the art of the classics. These traits were especially strengthened with Brahms’s move to Detmold (1857), where he took the position of musician at the princely court, led the choir, studied the scores of the old masters, G. F. Handel, J. S. Bach, J. Haydn and V. A. Mozart, created works in genres characteristic of the music of the 18th century. (2 orchestral serenades - 1857-59, choral works). His interest in choral music was also fostered by his studies with an amateur women's choir in Hamburg, where Brahms returned in 1860 (he was very attached to his parents and his hometown, but never received a permanent job there that would satisfy his aspirations). The result of the creativity of the 50s - early 60s. chamber ensembles with the participation of piano began - large-scale works, as if replacing Brahms symphonies (2 quartets - 1862, Quintet - 1864), as well as variation cycles (Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel - 1861, 2 notebooks of Variations on a Theme of Paganini - 1862-63 ) are wonderful examples of his piano style.

In 1862, Brahms traveled to Vienna, where he gradually settled down permanent residence. A tribute to the Viennese (including Schubert) tradition of everyday music were waltzes for piano in 4 and 2 hands (1867), as well as “Songs of Love” (1869) and “New Songs of Love” (1874) - waltzes for piano in 4 hands and a vocal quartet, where Brahms sometimes comes into contact with the style of the “King of Waltzes” - J. Strauss (son), whose music he highly appreciated. Brahms also gained fame as a pianist (he performed since 1854, especially willingly performed the piano part in his own chamber ensembles, played Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, his own works, accompanied singers, traveled to German Switzerland, Denmark, Holland, Hungary, and various German city), and after the performance in 1868 in Bremen of the “German Requiem” - his largest work (for choir, soloists and orchestra on texts from the Bible) - and as a composer. The strengthening of Brahms' authority in Vienna was facilitated by his activity as director of the choir of the Singing Academy (1863-64), and then of the choir and orchestra of the Society of Music Lovers (1872-75). Brahms was intensively active in editing piano works by W. F. Bach, F. Couperin, F. Chopin, R. Schumann for the publishing house Breitkopf and Hertel. He contributed to the publication of works by A. Dvořák, a then little-known composer who owed Brahms his warm support and participation in his destiny.

Complete creative maturity was marked by Brahms's turn to the symphony (First - 1876, Second - 1877, Third - 1883, Fourth - 1884-85). On the approaches to realizing this main work of his life, Brahms honed his skills in three string quartets (First, Second - 1873, Third - 1875), in the orchestral Variations on a Theme of Haydn (1873). Images close to symphonies are embodied in “Song of Fate” (after F. Hölderlin, 1868-71) and in “Song of the Parks” (after J. V. Goethe, 1882). The bright and inspired harmony of the Violin Concerto (1878) and the Second Piano Concerto (1881) reflected the impressions of his trips to Italy. The ideas of many of Brahms’s works are connected with its nature, as well as with the nature of Austria, Switzerland, and Germany (Brahms usually composed in the summer months). Their spread in Germany and beyond was facilitated by the activities of outstanding performers: G. Bülow, conductor of one of the best Meiningen orchestras in Germany; violinist J. Joachim (Brahms's closest friend) - leader of the quartet and soloist; singer J. Stockhausen and others. Chamber ensembles of different compositions (3 sonatas for violin and piano - 1878-79, 1886-88; Second sonata for cello and piano - 1886; 2 trios for violin, cello and piano - 1880-82, 1886; 2 string quintets - 1882, 1890), Concerto for violin and cello and orchestra (1887), works for a cappella choir were worthy companions to the symphonies. These works are from the late 80s. prepared the transition to late period creativity, marked by the dominance of chamber genres.

Very demanding of himself, Brahms, fearing the exhaustion of his creative imagination, thought about stopping his composing activities. However, a meeting in the spring of 1891 with the clarinetist of the Meiningen Orchestra R. Mühlfeld prompted him to create a Trio, a Quintet (1891), and then two sonatas (1894) with the participation of the clarinet. At the same time, Brahms wrote 20 piano pieces (op. 116-119), which, together with clarinet ensembles, became the result of the composer’s creative quest. This especially applies to the Quintet and the piano intermezzos - “hearts” sad notes", combining the rigor and confidence of lyrical expression, sophistication and simplicity of writing, and the pervasive melodiousness of intonation. The collection “49 German Folk Songs” (for voice and piano), published in 1894, was evidence of Brahms’s constant attention to folk song - his ethical and aesthetic ideal. Brahms worked on arrangements of German folk songs (including for a cappella choir) throughout his life; he was also interested in Slavic (Czech, Slovak, Serbian) melodies, recreating their character in his songs based on folk texts. “Four Strict Tunes” for voice and piano (a kind of solo cantata on texts from the Bible, 1895) and 11 choral organ preludes (1896) supplemented the composer’s “spiritual testament” with an appeal to genres and artistic means Bach's era, as close to the structure of his music as folk genres.

In his music, Brahms created a truthful and complex picture of the life of the human spirit - stormy in sudden impulses, persistent and courageous in internal overcoming obstacles, cheerful and cheerful, elegiacally soft and sometimes tired, wise and strict, gentle and spiritually responsive. The craving for positive resolution of conflicts, for reliance on the stable and eternal values of human life, which Brahms saw in nature, folk song, in the art of the great masters of the past, in the cultural tradition of his homeland, in simple human joys, is constantly combined in his music with a sense of unattainability harmony, growing tragic contradictions. Brahms's 4 symphonies reflect different aspects of his worldview. In the First - a direct heir to Beethoven's symphonism - the sharpness of the immediately flaring dramatic collisions is resolved in a joyful, hymn finale. The second symphony, truly Viennese (its origins are Haydn and Schubert), could be called a “symphony of joy.” The third - the most romantic of the entire cycle - goes from an enthusiastic rapture of life to gloomy anxiety and drama, suddenly retreating before the “eternal beauty” of nature, a bright and clear morning. The fourth symphony - the crown of Brahms's symphonism - develops, according to I. Sollertinsky's definition, “from elegy to tragedy.” The greatness of those built by Brahms - the largest symphonist of the second half of the 19th century V. - buildings does not exclude the general deep lyricism of tone, inherent in all symphonies and which is the “main tonality” of his music.

E. Tsareva

Deep in content, perfect in skill, Brahms's work belongs to the remarkable artistic achievements of German culture of the second half of the 19th century. IN difficult period its development, during the years of ideological and artistic confusion, Brahms acted as a successor and continuer classic traditions. He enriched them with the achievements of German romanticism. Great difficulties arose along this path. Brahms sought to overcome them by turning to understanding the true spirit of folk music, the richest expressive possibilities of the musical classics of the past.

“Folk song is my ideal,” said Brahms. Also in teenage years he worked with a village choir; later for a long time spent as a choral conductor and, invariably turning to German folk songs, promoting and processing them. That is why his music has such unique national features.

WITH great attention and Brahms was interested in folk music of other nationalities. The composer spent a significant part of his life in Vienna. Naturally, this entailed the inclusion of nationally distinctive elements of Austrian folk art into Brahms’ music. Vienna also determined great importance in the works of Brahms, Hungarian and Slavic music. “Slavicisms” are clearly noticeable in his works: in the frequently used turns and rhythms of the Czech polka, in some techniques of intonation development, modulation. The intonations and rhythms of Hungarian folk music, mainly in the verbunkos style, that is, in the spirit of urban folklore, were clearly reflected in a number of Brahms’s works. V. Stasov noted that the famous “Hungarian Dances” of Brahms are “worthy of their great glory.”

Sensitive insight into the mental structure of another nation is available only to artists who are organically connected with their national culture. This is Glinka in “Spanish Overtures” or Bizet in “Carmen”. Such is Brahms - an outstanding national artist of the German people, who turned to the Slavic and Hungarian folk elements.

In his declining years, Brahms dropped a significant phrase: “The two most important events of my life were the unification of Germany and the completion of the publication of Bach’s works.” Here, seemingly incomparable things stand in the same row. But Brahms, usually stingy with words, put into this phrase deep meaning. Passionate patriotism, a vested interest in the fate of his homeland, ardent faith in the strength of the people were naturally combined with a sense of admiration and admiration for national achievements German and Austrian music. The works of Bach and Handel, Mozart and Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann served as his guiding lights. He also closely studied ancient polyphonic music. Trying to better understand the patterns musical development, Brahms paid great attention issues of artistic skill. He contributed to notebook words of wisdom Goethe: “Form (in art.- M.D.) is formed by thousands of years of efforts of the most remarkable masters, and those who follow them cannot master it so quickly.”

But Brahms did not turn away from new music: rejecting any manifestations of decadence in art, he spoke with a feeling of true sympathy about many of the works of his contemporaries. Brahms thought highly of Die Meistersinger and much of Die Walküre, although he had a negative attitude towards Tristan; admired the melodic gift and transparent instrumentation of Johann Strauss; spoke warmly of Grieg; Bizet called the opera “Carmen” his “favorite”; Dvorak had “real, rich, charming talent.” Brahms's artistic tastes show him as a lively, spontaneous musician, alien to academic isolation.

This is how he appears in his work. It is full of exciting life content. In the difficult conditions of German reality in the 19th century, Brahms fought for individual rights and freedom, and praised courage and moral fortitude. His music is full of anxiety for the fate of man and carries words of love and consolation. She has a restless, excited tone.

The warmth and sincerity of Brahms' music, close to Schubert, are most fully revealed in the vocal lyrics, which occupy a significant place in his creative heritage. Brahms' works also contain many pages of philosophical lyricism, which is so characteristic of Bach. In developing lyrical images, Brahms often relied on existing genres and intonations, especially Austrian folklore. He resorted to genre generalizations and used dance elements of the landler, waltz, and czardas.

These images are also present in Brahms' instrumental works. Here the features of drama, rebellious romance, and passionate impetuosity emerge more sharply, which brings him closer to Schumann. In Brahms's music there are also images imbued with cheerfulness and courage, courageous strength and epic power. In this area, he appears as a continuer of Beethoven's traditions in German music.

An acutely conflicting content is inherent in many of Brahms' chamber instrumental and symphonic works. They recreate exciting emotional dramas, often of a tragic nature. These works are characterized by the excitement of the narrative; there is something rhapsodic in their presentation. But freedom of expression in Brahms’s most valuable works is combined with an iron logic of development: he tried to put the boiling lava of romantic feelings into strict classical forms. The composer was overwhelmed by many ideas; his music was saturated with figurative richness, contrasting changes of moods, and a variety of shades. Their organic fusion required strict and clear work of thought, high contrapuntal technique, ensuring the connection of disparate images.

But not always and not in all of his works Brahms managed to balance emotional excitement with the strict logic of musical development. Those close to him romantic the images sometimes came into conflict with classic method of presentation. The disturbed balance sometimes led to vagueness, hazy complexity of expression, and gave rise to incomplete, unsteady outlines of images; on the other hand, when the work of thought took precedence over emotionality, Brahms’ music acquired rational, passive-contemplative features (Tchaikovsky saw only these, distant to him, sides in Brahms’s work and therefore could not correctly evaluate it. Brahms’ music, in his words, “accurately teases and irritates the musical feeling”; he found it dry, cold, foggy, vague. ).

But on the whole, his works captivate with their remarkable skill and emotional spontaneity in conveying significant ideas and carrying them out logically. For, despite the inconsistency of individual artistic decisions, Brahms’s work is permeated with the struggle for the true content of music, for the high ideals of humanistic art.

Life and creative path

Johannes Brahms was born in northern Germany, in Hamburg, on May 7, 1833. His father is from peasant family, was a city musician (horn player, later double bassist). The composer's childhood was spent in poverty. WITH early age, thirteen years old, he is already performing as a tapper at dance evenings. In the following years, he earned money by giving private lessons, playing as a pianist during theater intermissions, and occasionally participating in serious concerts. At the same time, having taken a composition course with the respectable teacher Eduard Marxen, who instilled in him a love of classical music, he composed a lot. But the works of the young Brahms are unknown to anyone, and in order to earn a penny they have to write salon plays and transcriptions, which are published under different pseudonyms(about 150 opuses in total.) “Few people lived as hard as I did,” Brahms said, recalling the years of his youth.

In 1853, Brahms left his hometown; Together with the violinist Eduard (Ede) Remenyi, a Hungarian political emigrant, he went on a long concert tour. His acquaintance with Liszt and Schumann dates back to this period. The first of them treated the hitherto unknown, modest and shy twenty-year-old composer with his usual benevolence. An even warmer welcome awaited him at Schumann's. Ten years have passed since the latter stopped taking part in the “New Musical Journal” he created, but, amazed by Brahms’ original talent, Schumann broke the silence and wrote his last article, entitled “New Paths.” He called the young composer a complete master who “perfectly expresses the spirit of the times.” The work of Brahms, and by this time he was already the author of significant piano works (among them three sonatas), attracted everyone's attention: representatives of both the Weimar and Leipzig schools wanted to see him in their ranks.

Brahms wanted to stay away from the hostility of these schools. But he fell under the irresistible charm of the personality of Robert Schumann and his wife, the famous pianist Clara Schumann, for whom Brahms maintained love and faithful friendship over the next four decades. The artistic views and convictions (as well as prejudices, in particular against Liszt!) of this wonderful couple were indisputable for him. And therefore, when at the end of the 50s, after Schumann’s death, an ideological struggle for his artistic heritage broke out, Brahms could not help but take part in it. In 1860, he spoke in print (for the only time in his life!) against the assertion of the new German school that its aesthetic ideals share All the best composers in Germany. Due to an absurd coincidence, along with the name of Brahms, this protest bore the signatures of only three young musicians (including the outstanding violinist Joseph Joachim, a friend of Brahms); the remaining, more well-known names were omitted from the newspaper. This attack, composed moreover in harsh, inept terms, was met with hostility by many, in particular Wagner.

Not long before, Brahms's performance of his First Piano Concerto in Leipzig was marked by a scandalous failure. Representatives of the Leipzig school reacted to him just as negatively as the Weimarians. Thus, having abruptly broken away from one bank, Brahms was unable to land on the other. A courageous and noble man, he, despite the difficulties of existence and the cruel attacks of the militant Wagnerians, did not make creative compromises. Brahms closed himself off, isolated himself from polemics, and outwardly withdrew from the struggle. But he continued it in his creativity: taking the best from the artistic ideals of both schools, with your music proved (though not always consistently) the inseparability of the principles of ideology, nationality and democracy as the foundations of life-truth art.

The beginning of the 60s was, to a certain extent, a time of crisis for Brahms. After storms and fights, he gradually comes to realize his creative tasks. It was at this time that he began long-term work on major vocal-symphonic works (“German Requiem”, 1861-1868), on the First Symphony (1862-1876), intensively manifested himself in the field of chamber literature (piano quartets, quintet, cello sonata). Trying to overcome romantic improvisation, Brahms intensively studied folk song, as well as Viennese classics (songs, vocal ensembles, choirs).

1862 is a turning point in Brahms' life. Unable to find a use for his powers in his homeland, he moved to Vienna, where he remained until his death. A wonderful pianist and conductor, he is looking for a permanent position. His hometown of Hamburg refused him this, leaving him with an unhealed wound. In Vienna, he twice tried to gain a foothold in the service as the head of the Singing Chapel (1863-1864) and conductor of the Society of Friends of Music (1872-1875), but left these positions: they did not bring him much artistic satisfaction or material security. Brahms's position improves only in the mid-70s, when he finally receives public recognition. Brahms performs a lot with his symphonic and chamber works, visiting a number of cities in Germany, Hungary, Holland, Switzerland, Galicia, and Poland. He loved these trips, meeting new countries, and as a tourist he was in Italy eight times.

The 70s and 80s were the time of Brahms's creative maturity. During these years, symphonies, violin and Second piano concertos, many chamber works (three violin sonatas, Second cello sonata, Second and Third piano trios, three string quartets), songs, choirs, and vocal ensembles were written. As before, Brahms in his work turns to the most various genres musical art(with the exception of only musical drama, although I was going to write an opera). He strives to combine deep content with democratic clarity and therefore, along with complex instrumental cycles, he creates music of a simple everyday nature, sometimes for home music playing (vocal ensembles “Songs of Love”, “Hungarian Dances”, waltzes for piano, etc.). Moreover, working in both directions, the composer does not change his creative style, using his amazing contrapuntal skill in popular works and without losing simplicity and warmth in the symphonies.

The breadth of Brahms's ideological and artistic horizons is also characterized by a kind of parallelism in solving creative problems. Thus, almost simultaneously he wrote two orchestral serenades of different types (1858 and 1860), two piano quartets (op. 25 and 26, 1861), two string quartets (op. 51, 1873); immediately after the end of the Requiem, he began to write “Songs of Love” (1868-1869); along with the “Festive”, he creates the “Tragic Overture” (1880-1881); The First, “pathetic” symphony is adjacent to the Second, “pastoral” (1876-1878); The third, “heroic” - with the Fourth, “tragic” (1883-1885) (To draw attention to the dominant aspects of the content of Brahms’ symphonies, their conventional names are indicated here.). In the summer of 1886, such contrasting works of the chamber genre as the dramatic Second Cello Sonata (Op. 99), the bright, idyllic Second Violin Sonata (Op. 100), the epic Third Piano Trio (Op. 101) and passionately excited, pathetic Third Violin Sonata (op. 108).

At the end of his life - Brahms died on April 3, 1897 - his creative activity weakened. He conceives a symphony and a number of other major works, but carries out his plans only for chamber plays and songs. Not only has the circle of genres narrowed, the circle of images has narrowed. One cannot help but see in this a manifestation of the creative fatigue of a lonely person, disappointed in the struggle of life. The painful illness that brought him to the grave (liver cancer) also took its toll. Nevertheless, these recent years have also been marked by the creation of truthful, humanistic music that glorifies high moral ideals. It is enough to cite as examples the piano intermezzos (op. 116-119), the clarinet quintet (op. 115) or the “Four Strict Tunes” (op. 121). And your undying love for folk art Brahms captured in wonderful collection forty-nine German folk songs for voice and piano.

Style Features

Brahms is the last major representative of German music of the 19th century, who developed the ideological and artistic traditions of advanced national culture. His work, however, is not without some contradictions, for he was not always able to understand the complex phenomena of our time and was not involved in the socio-political struggle. But Brahms never betrayed high humanistic ideals, did not compromise with bourgeois ideology, and rejected everything false and transitory in culture and art.

Brahms created his own original creative style. His musical language is marked by individual characteristics. Typical for him are the intonations associated with German folk music, which affects the structure of themes, the use of melodies based on triad tones, and the plagal turns inherent in ancient layers of song. And in harmony big role plays plagality; Often a minor subdominant is also used in major, and a major subdominant in minor. Brahms's works are characterized by modal originality. The “flickering” of major and minor is very characteristic of it. Thus, Brahms’s main musical motif can be expressed by the following scheme (the first scheme characterizes the thematic theme of the main part of the First Symphony, the second – a similar theme of the Third Symphony):

The given ratio of thirds and sixths in the structure of the melody, as well as the techniques of third or sixth doubling, are favorites of Brahms. In general, it is characterized by emphasizing the third degree, which is the most sensitive in the coloring of the modal inclination. Unexpected modulation deviations, modal variability, major-minor mode, melodic and harmonic major - all this is used to show variability and richness of shades of content. Complex rhythms, the combination of even and odd meters, the introduction of triplets, dotted rhythm, and syncopation into a smooth melodic line also serve this purpose.

Unlike rounded vocal melodies, Brahms' instrumental themes are often open-ended, making them difficult to remember and perceive. This tendency to “open” thematic boundaries is caused by the desire to maximally saturate the music with development (Taneev also strived for this.). B.V. Asafiev rightly noted that in Brahms, even in lyrical miniatures, “one can feel development».

Brahms's interpretation of the principles of formation is particularly unique. He was well aware of the vast experience accumulated by European musical culture, and, along with modern formal schemes, he resorted to long-ago, seemingly out-of-use ones: such as the old sonata form, variation suite, basso ostinato techniques; he gave a double exposure in a concert, applying the principles of concerto grosso. However, this was not done for the sake of stylization, not for aesthetic admiration of outdated forms: such a comprehensive use of established structural patterns was of a deeply fundamental nature.

In contrast to the representatives of the Liszt-Wagnerian movement, Brahms wanted to prove his ability old compositional means for transmission modern building thoughts and feelings, and practically proved this with his creativity. Moreover, he considered the most valuable, vital means of expression, defended in classical music, as a weapon in the struggle against the decay of form and artistic arbitrariness. An opponent of subjectivism in art, Brahms defended the precepts of classical art. He turned to them also because he sought to curb the unbalanced impulse of his own fantasy, which overwhelmed his excited, anxious, restless feelings. He did not always succeed in this; sometimes, when implementing large-scale plans, significant difficulties arose. All the more persistently Brahms creatively implemented old forms and established principles of development. He brought a lot of new things into them.

Of great value are his achievements in the development of variation principles of development, which he combined with sonata principles. Drawing on Beethoven (see his 32 variations for piano or the finale of the Ninth Symphony), Brahms achieved contrasting, but purposeful, “through” dramaturgy in his cycles. Evidence of this is the Variations on a Theme of Handel, on a Theme of Haydn or the brilliant passacaglia of the Fourth Symphony.

In his interpretation of the sonata form, Brahms also gave customized solutions: he combined freedom of expression with the classical logic of development, romantic excitement with a strictly rational conduct of thought. Multiplicity of images during incarnation dramatic content- a typical feature of Brahms' music. Therefore, for example, five themes are contained in the exposition of the first part of the piano quintet, three different themes have the main part of the finale of the Third Symphony, two secondary ones - in the first part of the Fourth Symphony, etc. These images are contrasted, which is often emphasized by modal relationships ( for example, in the first part of the First Symphony, the side part is given in Es-dur, and the final part in es-moll; in the similar part of the Third Symphony, when comparing the same parts A-dur - a-moll in the finale of the named symphony - C-dur - c; -moll, etc.).

Brahms paid special attention to the development of the images of the main party. Its themes are often repeated throughout the movement without changes and in the same key, which is characteristic of the rondo sonata form. This also reveals the ballad features of Brahms' music. The main part is sharply contrasted with the final (sometimes connecting) part, which is endowed with an energetic dotted rhythm, marching, and often proud turns drawn from Hungarian folklore (see the first movements of the First and Fourth Symphonies, the violin and Second Piano Concerto, and others). The side parts, based on the intonations and genres of Viennese everyday music, are unfinished in nature and do not become the lyrical centers of the part. But they are an effective factor in development and are often subject to major changes in development. The latter is carried out concisely and dynamically, since the development elements have already been introduced into the exhibition.

Brahms excelled in the art of emotional switching, combining images of different qualities in a single development. This is helped by multilaterally developed motivic connections, the use of their transformation, and the widespread use of contrapuntal techniques. Therefore, he was extremely successful in returning to the starting point of the narrative - even within the framework of a simple three-part form. This is even more successfully achieved in the sonata allegro when approaching the reprise. Moreover, to intensify the drama, Brahms, like Tchaikovsky, likes to shift the boundaries of development and reprise, which sometimes leads to the refusal to fully carry out the main part. Accordingly, the importance of the coda increases as a moment of highest tension in the development of the part. Remarkable examples of this are contained in the first movements of the Third and Fourth Symphonies.

Brahms is a master of musical dramaturgy. Both within the boundaries of one part and throughout the instrumental cycle, he gave a consistent statement of a single idea, but, focusing all attention on internal logic of musical development, often neglected externally colorful presentation of thoughts. This is Brahms's attitude to the problem of virtuosity; This is also his interpretation of the capabilities of instrumental ensembles and orchestras. He did not use purely orchestral effects and, in his passion for full and dense harmonies, doubled the parts, combined voices, and did not strive to individualize and contrast them. Nevertheless, when the content of the music required it, Brahms found the unusual flavor he needed (see the examples above). Such self-restraint reveals one of the most characteristic features of his creative method, which is characterized by noble restraint of expression.

Brahms said: “We can no longer write as beautifully as Mozart; let’s try to write at least as purely as he did.” We are talking not only about technique, but also about the content of Mozart’s music, its ethical beauty. Brahms created music much more complex than Mozart, reflecting the complexity and contradictions of his time, but he followed this motto, because the creative life of Johannes Brahms was marked by the desire for high ethical ideals, a sense of deep responsibility for everything he did.

Brahms's first music lessons were given by his father; later he studied with O. Kossel, whom he always remembered with gratitude. In 1843 Kossel handed over his student to E. Marxen. Marxen, whose pedagogy was based on the study of the works of Bach and Beethoven, quickly realized that he was dealing with an extraordinary talent. In 1847, when Mendelssohn died, Marxen said to a friend: “One master has left, but another, greater one, is coming to replace him - this is Brahms.”

In 1853, Brahms finished his studies and in April of the same year went on a concert tour with his friend, E. Remenyi: Remenyi played the violin, Brahms played the piano. In Hanover they met another famous violinist, J. Joachim. He was amazed by the power and fiery temperament of the music that Brahms showed him, and the two young musicians (Joachim was then 22 years old) became close friends. Joachim gave Remenyi and Brahms a letter of introduction to Liszt, and they went to Weimar. The maestro played some of Brahms' works from sight, and they made such a strong impression on him that he immediately wanted to “rank” Brahms with the advanced movement - the New German School, which was headed by himself and R. Wagner. However, Brahms resisted the charm of Liszt's personality and the brilliance of his playing. Remenyi remained in Weimar, while Brahms continued his wanderings and eventually ended up in Düsseldorf, in the house of R. Schumann.

Schumann and his wife, pianist Clara Schumann-Wick, had already heard about Brahms from Joachim and warmly received the young musician. They were delighted with his writings and became his most staunch adherents. Brahms lived in Düsseldorf for several weeks and headed to Leipzig, where Liszt and G. Berlioz attended his concert. By Christmas Brahms arrived in Hamburg; he left his hometown as an unknown student, and returned as an artist with a name about which the great Schumann’s article said: “Here is a musician who is called upon to give the highest and ideal expression to the spirit of our time.”

In February 1854, Schumann tried to commit suicide in a nervous attack; he was sent to a hospital, where he eked out his days until his death (in July 1856). Brahms rushed to the aid of Schumann's family and took care of his wife and seven children during the period of difficult trials. He soon fell in love with Clara Schumann. Clara and Brahms, by mutual agreement, never spoke of love. But the deep mutual affection remained, and throughout her long life Clara remained Brahms's closest friend.

IN autumn months 1857-1859 Brahms served as a court musician at a small princely court in Detmold, and spent the summer seasons of 1858 and 1859 in Göttingen. There he met Agathe von Siebold, a singer and daughter of a university professor; Brahms was seriously attracted to her, but hastened to retreat when the topic of marriage came up. All subsequent passions of Brahms's heart were fleeting in nature. He died a bachelor.

Brahms' family still lived in Hamburg, and he constantly traveled there, and in 1858 he rented a separate apartment for himself. In 1858-1862, he successfully led a women's amateur choir: he really liked this activity, and he composed several songs for the choir. However, Brahms dreamed of becoming a conductor of the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1862, the former director of the orchestra died, but the place went not to Brahms, but to J. Stockhausen. After this, the composer decided to move to Vienna.

By 1862, the luxurious, colorful style of Brahms's early piano sonatas gave way to a calmer, stricter, classical style, which manifested itself in one of his best works - Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel. Brahms moved further and further away from the ideals of the New German School, and his rejection of Liszt culminated in 1860, when Brahms and Joachim published a very harsh manifesto, which, in particular, said that the works of the followers of the New German School "contradict the very spirit of music."

The first concerts in Vienna were not met with a very friendly reception by critics, but the Viennese willingly listened to Brahms the pianist, and he soon won everyone’s sympathy. The rest was a matter of time. He no longer challenged his colleagues; his reputation was finally established after the resounding success of the German Requiem, performed on April 10, 1868 in the Bremen Cathedral. Since then, the most notable milestones in Brahms' biography have been the premieres of his major works, such as the First Symphony in C minor (1876), the Fourth Symphony in E minor (1885), and the Quintet for clarinet and strings (1891).

His material wealth grew along with his fame, and now he gave free rein to his love of travel. He visited Switzerland and other scenic spots, traveled to Italy several times. Until the end of his life, Brahms preferred not too difficult travel, and therefore the Austrian resort of Ischl became his favorite vacation spot. It was there, on May 20, 1896, that he received news of the death of Clara Schumann. Having become seriously ill, he died in Vienna on April 3, 1897.

On May 7, 1833, a son was born into the family of a Hamburg musician, who was named Johannes. The boy's first music teacher was his father, who taught his capable son to play many wind and string instruments.

Johannes mastered the intricacies of the game with such ease that at the age of ten he began performing at major concerts. The parents of the young talent were advised to take the boy to the teacher and composer Eduard Marxen, who quickly realized that fate had given him a real gift in the form of a little musical genius.

During the day the boy studied with Marxen, and in the evenings he was forced to play in port bars and taverns to earn a piece of bread. Such stress greatly affected the fragile health of the young musician.

At the age of 14, Johannes graduated from college and gave his first solo concert, where he performed as a pianist.

Useful connections

In Brahms’s brief biography, useful acquaintances played a great role, for which Johannes’s closed and unsociable character did not become an obstacle.

During a concert trip in 1853, fate brought Brahms together with the famous Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim, who played key role V creative life young musician.

Joachim, amazed by the talent of his new acquaintance, gave him a letter of recommendation to Liszt, who was also impressed by the works of the aspiring composer.

Also, on the recommendation of Joachim, Brahms met Schumann, whom he always idolized. Struck by the work of Brahms, Schumann began to actively popularize him in the highest musical circles, each time speaking flatteringly about the young talent.

Life on wheels

Constantly moving from place to place in the cities of Switzerland and Germany, Brahms managed to write many works in the field of chamber and piano music. The musician dreamed of permanently living and creating in his native Hamburg, but nothing was offered to him.

To make himself known throughout Europe and achieve recognition, in 1862 Brahms went to Vienna. Here he quickly won the love of the public, but soon realized that he was not created for routine work, be it the position of head of the Society of Music Lovers or the head of the Choir Chapel.

Upon learning of his mother’s death in 1865, Brahms, in a state of severe emotional shock, completed his long-standing work, the “German Requiem,” which later took a special place in European classics. The success of this powerful work was incredible.

last years of life

After the death of his beloved mother, Brahms decided to stay in Vienna forever. The musician’s character, already extremely difficult, completely deteriorated. In the last years of his life, he stopped communicating with both new acquaintances and old friends.

In the summer, the composer went to resorts, where he found inspiration for his new works, and in the winter he gave concerts as a conductor or performer.

Throughout his life, Brahms wrote more than eighty works for individual musical instruments, orchestra and male choir. The maestro's greatest fame came from his beautiful symphonies, which were always distinguished by their special style. The pinnacle of Brahms's creativity was his famous "German Requiem".

Personal life

The composer's personal life never worked out. He had several affections, but none of them ended in marriage and the birth of children. Brahms' truly strong passion was always music.

Death

In the last years of his life, Brahms was often ill for long periods of time. The great musician died on April 3, 1897 in Vienna.

The content of the article

BRAHMS, JOHANNES(Brahms, Johannes) (1833–1897), one of the outstanding figures in German music of the 19th century. Born on May 7, 1833 in Hamburg, in the family of Jacob Brahms, a professional double bassist. Brahms's first music lessons were given by his father; later he studied with O. Kossel, whom he always remembered with gratitude. In 1843 Kossel handed over his student to E. Marxen. Marxen, whose pedagogy was based on the study of the works of Bach and Beethoven, quickly realized that he was dealing with an extraordinary talent. In 1847, when Mendelssohn died, Marxen said to a friend: “One master has left, but another, greater one, is coming to replace him - this is Brahms.”

In 1853, Brahms finished his studies and in April of the same year went on a concert tour with his friend, E. Remenyi: Remenyi played the violin, Brahms played the piano. In Hannover they met another famous violinist, J. Joachim. He was amazed by the power and fiery temperament of the music that Brahms showed him, and the two young musicians (Joachim was then 22 years old) became close friends. Joachim gave Remenyi and Brahms a letter of introduction to Liszt, and they went to Weimar. The maestro played some of Brahms' works from sight, and they made such a strong impression on him that he immediately wanted to “rank” Brahms with the advanced movement - the New German School, which was headed by himself and R. Wagner. However, Brahms resisted the charm of Liszt's personality and the brilliance of his playing. Remenyi remained in Weimar, while Brahms continued his wanderings and eventually ended up in Düsseldorf, in the house of R. Schumann.

In the autumn months of 1857–1859, Brahms served as court musician at the small princely court in Detmold, and spent the summer seasons of 1858 and 1859 in Göttingen. There he met Agathe von Siebold, a singer and daughter of a university professor; Brahms was seriously attracted to her, but hastened to retreat when the topic of marriage came up. All subsequent passions of Brahms's heart were fleeting in nature.

Brahms' family still lived in Hamburg, and he constantly traveled there, and in 1858 he rented a separate apartment for himself. In 1858–1862, he successfully led a women's amateur choir: he really liked this activity, and he composed several songs for the choir. However, Brahms dreamed of becoming a conductor of the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1862, the former director of the orchestra died, but the place went not to Brahms, but to J. Stockhausen. After this, the composer decided to move to Vienna.

By 1862, the luxurious, colorful style of Brahms's early piano sonatas gave way to a calmer, stricter, classical style, which manifested itself in one of his best works - Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel. Brahms moved further and further away from the ideals of the New German School, and his rejection of Liszt culminated in 1860, when Brahms and Joachim published a very harsh manifesto, which, in particular, stated that the works of the followers of the New German School "contradict the very spirit of music."

The first concerts in Vienna were not met with a very friendly reception by critics, but the Viennese willingly listened to Brahms the pianist, and he soon won everyone’s sympathy. The rest was a matter of time. He no longer challenged his colleagues; his reputation was finally established after the resounding success German Requiem, performed on April 10, 1868 in Bremen Cathedral. Since then, the most notable milestones in Brahms' biography have been the premieres of his major works, such as the First Symphony in C minor (1876), the Fourth Symphony in E minor (1885), and the Quintet for clarinet and strings (1891).

His material wealth grew along with his fame, and now he gave free rein to his love of travel. He visited Switzerland and other picturesque places, and traveled to Italy several times. Until the end of his life, Brahms preferred not too difficult travel, and therefore the Austrian resort of Ischl became his favorite vacation spot. It was there, on May 20, 1896, that he received news of the death of Clara Schumann. Brahms died in Vienna on April 3, 1897.

Creation.

Brahms did not write a single opera, but otherwise his work covered almost all major musical genres. Among his vocal compositions, the majestic reigns like a mountain peak. German Requiem, followed by half a dozen smaller works for chorus and orchestra. Brahms' legacy includes accompanied vocal ensembles, a capella motets, quartets and duets for voices and piano, about 200 songs for voice and piano. In the orchestral-instrumental field, four symphonies, four concertos should be mentioned (including the sublime violin concerto in D major, 1878, and the monumental Second Piano Concerto in B flat major, 1881), as well as five orchestral works of different genres, including Variations on a Theme by Haydn (1873). He created 24 chamber instrumental works of various sizes for solo and two pianos, and several pieces for organ.

When Brahms was 22, experts such as Joachim and Schumann expected him to lead the resurgent Romantic movement in music. Incorrigible romantic Brahms remained for life. However, this was not the pathetic romanticism of Liszt or the theatrical romanticism of Wagner. Brahms did not like too bright colors, and sometimes it can seem that he is generally indifferent to timbre. Thus, we cannot say with complete certainty whether the Variations on a Theme by Haydn were originally composed for two pianos or for orchestra - they were published in both versions. The Piano Quintet in F minor was first conceived as a string quintet, then as a piano duet. Such disregard for instrumental color is rare among the romantics, because the colorfulness of the musical palette was given decisive importance, and Berlioz, Liszt, Wagner, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky and others made a real revolution in the field of orchestral writing. But one can also recall the sound of the horns in Brahms’s Second Symphony, the trombones in the Fourth, and the clarinet in the clarinet quintet. It is clear that a composer who uses timbres in this way is by no means blind to colors - he simply sometimes prefers a “black and white” style.

Schubert and Schumann not only did not hide their commitment to romanticism, but were also proud of it. Brahms is much more careful, as if he is afraid of giving himself away. “Brahms does not know how to rejoice,” Brahms’s opponent, G. Wolf, once said, and there is some truth in this barb.

Over time, Brahms became a brilliant contrapuntist: his fugues in German Requiem, in the Variations on a Theme of Handel and other works, his passacaglias in the finales of the Variations on a Theme of Haydn and in the Fourth Symphony are directly based on the principles of Bach's polyphony. At other times, Bach's influence is refracted through Schumann's style and reveals itself in the dense, chromatic polyphony of Brahms's orchestral, chamber and late piano music.

Reflecting on the passionate devotion of the Romantic composers to Beethoven, one cannot help but be struck by the fact that they turned out to be relatively weak in the very area in which Beethoven especially excelled, namely, in the field of form. Brahms and Wagner became the first great musicians who appreciated Beethoven's achievements in this area and were able to perceive and develop them. Already Brahms's early piano sonatas are permeated with such musical logic as has not been seen since the time of Beethoven, and over the years Brahms' mastery of the form became more and more confident and sophisticated. He did not shy away from innovations: one can name, for example, the use of the same theme in different parts cycle (the romantic principle of monothematism - in G major violin sonata, op. 78); a slow, reflective scherzo (First Symphony); scherzo and slow movement merged together (string quartet in F major, op. 88).

Thus, two traditions met in Brahms’s work: counterpoint, coming from Bach, and architectonics, developed by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. To this is added romantic expression and color. Brahms combines different elements of the German classical school and summarizes them - one might say that his work completes classical period in German music. It is not surprising that contemporaries often turned to the Beethoven-Brahms parallel: indeed, these composers have a lot in common. The shadow of Beethoven hovers - with more or less distinctness - over all the major works of Brahms. And only in small forms (intermezzos, waltzes, songs) does he manage to forget about this great shadow - for Beethoven small genres played a secondary role.

As a songwriter, Brahms covered perhaps a less wide range of images than Schubert or G. Wolf; Most of his best songs are purely lyrical, usually based on the words of second-rank German poets. Several times Brahms wrote to poems by Goethe and Heine. Almost always, Brahms's songs exactly correspond to the mood of the chosen poem, flexibly reflecting changes in feelings and images.

As a melodist, Brahms is second only to Schubert, but in compositional skill he has no rivals. The symphony of Brahms's thinking is manifested in the wide breathing of vocal phrases (often posing difficult tasks for the performers), in the harmony of form and richness of the piano part; Brahms is endlessly inventive in the field of piano texture and in his ability to apply one or another textural technique at the right time.

Brahms is the author of two hundred songs; he worked in this genre all his life. The pinnacle of song creativity is a magnificent vocal cycle written at the end of life Four strict tunes(1896) on biblical texts. He also owns about two hundred arrangements of folk songs for various performing groups.

Johannes Brahms was born on May 7, 1833 in the Schlütershof quarter of Hamburg, in the family of the double bassist of the city theater, Jacob Brahms. The composer's family occupied a tiny apartment consisting of a room with a kitchen and a tiny bedroom. Soon after the birth of their son, the parents moved to Ultrichstrasse.

Johannes's first music lessons were given to him by his father, who instilled in him the skills to play various string and wind instruments. Afterwards, the boy studied piano and composition theory with Otto Cossel (German: Otto Friedrich Willibald Cossel).

At the age of ten, Brahms was already performing at prestigious concerts, where he performed the piano part, which gave him the opportunity to tour America. Kossel managed to dissuade Johannes' parents from this idea and convince them that it was better for the boy to continue his studies with the teacher and composer Eduard Marxen in Altona. Marxen, whose pedagogy was based on the study of the works of Bach and Beethoven, quickly realized that he was dealing with an extraordinary talent. In 1847, when Mendelssohn died, Marxen told a friend: “One master has left, but another, greater one, is coming to replace him - this is Brahms.”

At the age of fourteen, in 1847, Johannes graduated from a private secondary school and made his first public appearance as a pianist in a recital.

In April 1853, Brahms went on tour with the Hungarian violinist E. Remenyi.

In Hanover they met another famous violinist, Joseph Joachim. He was struck by the power and fiery temperament of the music that Brahms showed him, and the two young musicians (Joachim was then 22 years old) became close friends.

Joachim gave Remenyi and Brahms a letter of introduction to Liszt, and they went to Weimar. The maestro played some of Brahms' works from sight, and they made such a strong impression on him that he immediately wanted to “rank” Brahms with the advanced movement - the New German School, which was headed by himself and R. Wagner. However, Brahms resisted the charm of Liszt's personality and the brilliance of his playing.

On September 30, 1853, on the recommendation of Joachim, Brahms met Robert Schumann, for whose high talent he had special reverence. Schumann and his wife, pianist Clara Schumann-Wick, had already heard about Brahms from Joachim and warmly received the young musician. They were delighted with his writings and became his most staunch adherents. Schumann spoke very flatteringly of Brahms in a critical article in his New Musical Newspaper.

Brahms lived in Düsseldorf for several weeks and headed to Leipzig, where Liszt and G. Berlioz attended his concert. By Christmas Brahms arrived in Hamburg; he left his hometown as an unknown student, and returned as an artist with a name about which the great Schumann’s article said: “Here is a musician who is called upon to give the highest and ideal expression to the spirit of our time.”

Brahms had a tender sympathy for Clara Schumann, who was 13 years older. During Robert's illness, he sent love letters to his wife, but never decided to propose to her when she was widowed.

Brahms's first work is Sonata fis-moll (op. 2) 1852. Later the sonata in C major (op. 1) was written. There are 3 sonatas in total. There is also a scherzo for piano, piano pieces and songs, published in Leipzig in 1854.

Constantly changing his location in Germany and Switzerland, Brahms wrote a number of works in the field of piano and chamber music.

In the autumn months of 1857-1859, Brahms served as court musician at the small princely court in Detmold.

In 1858, he rented an apartment for himself in Hamburg, where his family still lived. From 1858 to 1862 he led a women's amateur choir, although he dreams of becoming a conductor of the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra.

He spent the summer seasons of 1858 and 1859 in Göttingen. There he meets the singer, the daughter of a university professor, Agatha von Siebold, with whom he becomes seriously interested. However, as soon as the conversation turned to marriage, he backed down. Subsequently, all of Brahms’s heartfelt interests were fleeting.

In 1862, the former director of the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra dies, but his place goes not to Brahms, but to J. Stockhausen. After this, the composer moved to Vienna, where he became conductor at the Singakademie, and from 1872-1874 conducted the famous concerts of the Musikfreunde society. Later most Brahms dedicated his work to composition. Brahms's first visit to Vienna in 1862 brought recognition.

In 1868, the premiere of the German Requiem took place at the Bremen Cathedral, which was a resounding success. This was followed by equally successful premieres of new major works: the First Symphony in C minor (in 1876), the Fourth Symphony in E minor (in 1885), and the quintet for clarinet and strings (in 1891).

In January 1871, Johannes received news from his stepmother that his father was seriously ill. At the beginning of February 1872 he arrived in Hamburg, the next day his father died. The son took his father's death seriously.

In the autumn of 1872, Brahms began working as artistic director of the Society of Friends of Music in Vienna. However, this work weighed on him and he only lasted three seasons.

With the advent of success, Brahms could afford to travel a lot. He visits Switzerland and Italy, but the Austrian resort of Ischl becomes his favorite vacation spot.

Having become a famous composer, Brahms more than once evaluated the works of young talents. When one author brought him a song with words by Schiller, Brahms said: “Wonderful! I was again convinced that Schiller’s poem is immortal.”

Leaving the German resort where he was undergoing treatment, the doctor asked: “Are you happy with everything? Maybe something is missing?” Brahms replied: “Thank you, I’m taking all the diseases that I brought back.”

Being very short-sighted, he preferred not to use glasses, joking: “But a lot of bad things escape my field of vision.”

Towards the end of his life, Brahms became unsociable, and when the organizers of one social reception decided to please him by offering to remove from the list of guests those whom he did not want to see, he removed himself.

In the last years of his life, Brahms was ill a lot, but did not stop working. During these years he completed the cycle of German folk songs.

Johannes Brahms died on the morning of April 3, 1897 in Vienna, where he was buried in the Central Cemetery (German: Zentralfriedhof).

Creation

Brahms did not write a single opera, but he worked in almost all other genres.

Brahms wrote more than 80 works, such as: single and polyphonic songs, a serenade for orchestra, variations on a Haydn theme for orchestra, two sextets for string instruments, two piano concertos, several sonatas for one piano, for piano with violin, with cello , clarinet and viola, piano trios, quartets and quintets, variations and various pieces for piano, cantata “Rinaldo” for solo tenor, male choir and orchestra, rhapsody (on an excerpt from Goethe’s “Harzreise im Winter”) for solo alto, male choir and orchestra, “German Requiem” for solo, choir and orchestra, “Triumphlied” (on the occasion of the Franco-Prussian War), for choir and orchestra; "Schicksalslied", for choir and orchestra; violin concerto, concerto for violin and cello, two overtures: tragic and academic.

But it was his symphonies that brought Brahms particular fame. Already in his early works, Brahms showed originality and independence. Through hard work, Brahms developed his own style. Regarding his works, judging by the general impression of them, it cannot be said that Brahms was influenced by any of the composers who preceded him. The most outstanding music, in which Brahms’s creative power was especially pronounced and original, is his “German Requiem”.

Memory

A crater on Mercury is named after Brahms.

Reviews

In the article “New Ways”, in October 1853, Robert Schumann wrote: “I knew ... and hoped that He was coming, the one who is called to become the ideal exponent of the times, the one whose skill does not peck out of the ground with timid shoots, but immediately blossoms into a magnificent color. And he appeared, a bright young man, at whose cradle stood the Graces and Heroes. His name is Johannes Brahms."
Carl Dahlhouse: “Brahms was not an imitator of either Beethoven or Schumann. And his conservatism can be considered aesthetically legitimate, since when talking about Brahms, traditions are not accepted without destroying the other side, its essence.”

List of essays

Piano creativity

Intermezzo in E flat major
Capriccio in B minor, op. 76 No 2
Three sonatas
Intermezzo
Rhapsodies
Variations on a theme by R. Schumann
Variations and Fugue on a Theme by G. F. Handel
Variations on a Theme of Paganini (1863)
Ballads
Capriccio
Fantasies
Songs of love - waltzes, new songs of love - waltzes, four notebooks of Hungarian dances for piano four hands

Works for organ

11 chorale preludes op.122
Two Preludes and Fugues

Chamber works

Three sonatas for violin and piano
Two sonatas for cello and piano
Two sonatas for clarinet (viola) and piano
Three piano trios
Trio for piano, violin and horn
Trio for piano, clarinet (viola) and cello
Three piano quartets
Three string quartets
Two string quintets
Piano Quintet
Quintet for clarinet and strings
Two string sextets

Concerts

Two piano concertos
Violin Concerto
Double concerto for violin and cello

For orchestra

Four symphonies (No. 1 c-moll op. 68; No. 2 D-dur op. 73; No. 3 F-dur op. 90; No. 4 e-moll op. 98)
Two serenades
Variations on a theme by J. Haydn
Academic and Tragic Overtures
Three Hungarian Dances (author's orchestration of dances No. 1, 3 and 10; orchestration of other dances by other authors, including Antonin Dvorak, Hans Gal, Pavel Yuon, etc.)

Vocal and choral works

German Requiem
Song of Fate, Song of Triumph
Cantata Rinaldo, Rhapsody, Song of the Parok - to the texts of J. W. Goethe
Over a hundred arrangements of folk songs (including 49 German folk songs)
About sixty mixed choirs, seven songs of Mary (1859), seven motets
Vocal ensembles for voice and piano - 60 vocal quartets, 20 duets, about 200 romances and songs
Four strict tunes
Canons for a capella choir

Recordings of Brahms' works

The complete set of Brahms symphonies was recorded by conductors Claudio Abbado, Hermann Abendroth, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Vladimir Ashkenazy, John Barbirolli, Daniel Barenboim, Eduard van Beinum, Carl Böhm, Leonard Bernstein, Adrian Boult, Semyon Bychkov, Bruno Walter, Günter Wand, Felix Weingartner, John Eliot Gardiner, Jascha Gorenstein, Carlo Maria Giulini, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Antal Dorati, Colin Davis, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Kurt Sanderling, Jaap van Zweden, Otmar Zuitner, Eliahu Inbal, Eugen Jochum, Herbert von Karajan, Rudolf Kempe, Istvan Kertesz, Otto Klemperer, Kirill Kondrashin, Rafael Kubelik, Gustav Kuhn, Sergei Koussevitzky, James Levine, Erich Leinsdorf, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Charles Mackerras, Neville Marriner, Willem Mengelberg, Zubin Mehta, Evgeni Mravinsky, Riccardo Muti, Roger Norrington, Seiji Ozawa, Eugene Ormandy, Witold Rowitzky, Simon Rattle, Evgeniy Svetlanov, Leif Segerstam, George Szell, Leopold Stokowski, Arturo Toscanini, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Bernard Haitink, Günter Herbig, Sergiu Celibidache, Ricardo Chailly, Gerald Schwarz, Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt, Georg Solti, Horst Stein, Christoph Eschenbach, Marek Janowski, Maris Jansons, Neeme Järvi and others.

Recordings of individual symphonies were also made by Karel Ancherl (No. 1-3), Yuri Bashmet (No. 3), Thomas Beecham (No. 2), Herbert Bloomstedt (No. 4), Hans Vonk (No. 2, 4), Guido Cantelli (No. 1, 3), Dzhansug Kakhidze (No. 1), Carlos Kleiber (No. 2, 4), Hans Knappertsbusch (No. 2-4), Rene Leibowitz (No. 4), Igor Markevich (No. 1, 4), Pierre Monteux (No. 3) , Charles Munsch (No. 1, 2, 4), Vaclav Neumann (No. 2), Jan Willem van Otterlo (No. 1), Andre Previn (No. 4), Fritz Reiner (No. 3, 4), Victor de Sabata (No. 4 ), Klaus Tennstedt (No. 1, 3), Willy Ferrero (No. 4), Ivan Fischer (No. 1), Ferenc Fryczai (No. 2), Daniel Harding (No. 3, 4), Hermann Scherchen (No. 1, 3), Karl Schuricht (No. 1, 2, 4), Karl Eliasberg (No. 3), etc.

The violin concerto was recorded by violinists Joshua Bell, Ida Handel, Gidon Kremer, Yehudi Menuhin, Anne-Sophie Mutter, David Oistrakh, Itzhak Perlman, József Szigeti, Vladimir Spivakov, Isaac Stern, Christian Ferrat, Jascha Heifetz, Henrik Szering.