Brahms
Brahms is one of the “big B” composers (yes that’s a very commonly used term which I didn’t just make up right now) also featuring Bach and Beethoven. These three are pretty universally loved intellectually and inheartedly (or however one properly says “from the heart not the head” with a ly on the end). They illustrate a nice progression of music, from baroque Bach, to classical/romantic pioneer Beethoven, up to the solidly Romantic Brahms.
As a Romantic composer Brahms uses lush, lyrical (tht is, you could imagine someone singing them) melodies with deep, complex orchestration. This emotional pull is instantly appealing to many, but the detailed, intellectual structure means considerable effort is needed to really understand it. I find his music feels kind of rounded and polished, in contrast to, say, Beethoven’s sharper more jagged style. Both of them explore melodies and themes in a similar, throough, way. They want to squeeze everything possible out of a musical idea, and catching it all aint a trivial matter.
Brahms died around the time the 1800’s changed into the 1900’s. He was one of the last truly Romantic composers.
Musical Snippets
- Piano Concerto No. 1, 3rd movement - This is a real rip-roaring mother of a finale to this piece. This is big romantic power at it’s finest and most refined. See how it switches between the surging at the beginning to quiet (but unsure) murmurings? That wouldn’t have happened before Beethoven. (buy at Amazon)
- Cello Sonata No. 1, 1st movement - This is an absolutely beautiful melody. It’s almost reminiscent to me of the simple but fantastically wonderful start of Beethoven’s moonlight sonata. So straightforward, but so wonderful. (buy at Amazon)
- Symphony No. 3, 3rd movement - Another beautiful melody (Brahms had, like, a tonne of them up his sleeve) gets passed around the orchestra. (buy at Amazon)
- Symphony No. 4, 4th movement - This is one of my favorites. It’s a passacaglia (or a chaconne, if anybody could agree what that means precisely) - that first sequence is repeated in the background all the way through the movement. It’s a wonderful sequence as well, grand and slightly terrifying. An imposing cliff-face of a piece, this. (buy at Amazon)
