Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Started by BachQ, April 07, 2007, 03:23:22 AM

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Jo498

I think the Katchen still deserves its reputation and is overall very impressive. Admittedly, I am not an expert on this music but a professional pianist I know somewhat (and who plays a lot of Brahms himself) still recommends it as first choice.
As Brahms' piano music is somewhat uneven (not mainly in quality but stylistically and chronologically scattered over his lifetime), I think there is a pretty good justification to "mix and match", at least after having covered the whole body of work once. I don't know them, but Radu Lupu's incomplete Brahms is regarded very highly.
Among my favorites are the Rubinstein recordings, unfortunately very incomplete (none of the big variations) and scattered throughout several discs in the different Rubinstein collections/editions.
Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

Symphonic Addict

I've always had thought that the Piano Trio in A major, Op. posth was, in fact, his last piano trio. Sounds masterly. Also, curious that Brahms never composed a proper string trio or suites for solo cello. Even his musical heroes did do it, at least one of them if applies (Mozart, Beethoven, Bach).

With 3 violin sonatas, 2 cello sonatas, 2 clarinet sonatas,  3 string quartets, 3 + Op.posth piano trios, 3 piano quartets, 2 string quintets, 2 string sextets, 1 piano quintet, 1 trio for horn, 1 clarinet trio, 1 clarinet quintet, what do you consider his absolute best and favorite 5 chamber works? Mine in opus order:

Piano Trio No. 1, Op. 8
String Sextet No. 1, Op. 18
Piano Quartet No. 3, Op. 60
String Quartet No. 3, Op. 67
String Quintet No. 2, Op. 111
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Noam Chomsky

Madiel

Quote from: Symphonic Addict on February 01, 2020, 03:08:02 PM
I've always had thought that the Piano Trio in A major, Op. posth was, in fact, his last piano trio.

It's highly doubtful it's even his. And if it is, it's early.
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Jo498

Hardly anybody composed suites for Solo Cello between Bach and Reger. And string trios became very rare after Beethoven who stopped writing them once he had started quartets, so it's not very surprising that Brahms didn't write any.

My favorites are probably

piano quintet
clarinet quintet
violin sonata G major op.78
clarinet sonata E flat major op.120/2
piano quartet g minor or maybe the c minor

But I love almost all of his chamber music, the least favorite piece being probably the 2nd cello sonata
Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

vers la flamme

Bump for Brahms on his birthday   :)

Who else is listening to Brahms today? So far the Tragic Overture, the Alto Rhapsody, the Violin Concerto, the Haydn Variations, the Clarinet Quintet & Trio, the Piano Quintet, & now a selection of Lieder w/ Jessye Norman & Daniel Barenboim. What a composer. Thank God for Brahms...


vers la flamme

Just a handful of intermezzi for me this morning, from op.117 and op.118; and the first movement of the German Requiem (decided I wasn't in the mood for the whole thing).

Mandryka

#1066
Quote from: vers la flamme on May 08, 2020, 02:11:18 AM
Just a handful of intermezzi for me this morning, from op.117 and op.118; and the first movement of the German Requiem (decided I wasn't in the mood for the whole thing).

Well that prompted me to check this out, through qobuz, and indeed it is there.



First impressions . . . well someone I know used to refer to Sokolov's late Brahms as gothic -- dark, mournful, mysterious and heavy.  The musical equivalent of this



Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

staxomega

On Sokolov disc - got a bit lightheaded when I misread the third piano sonata as being Brahms and not Beethoven, damn :(

Jo498

There is a Brahms op.5 + op.10 Ballades with Sokolov from the 1990s on op.111/Naive.
Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

Florestan

Quote from: Mandryka on May 08, 2020, 09:04:17 AM
dark, mournful, mysterious and heavy.  The musical equivalent of this



You kidding, right? The image above is anything but dark, mournful, mysterious and heavy. On the contrary, it's clownish and laughable.

If you want really dark, mournful, mysterious and heavy, take this:





Every kind of music is good, except the boring kind. — Rossini

Mandryka

#1070
Quote from: Florestan on May 08, 2020, 10:48:15 AM
You kidding, right? The image above is anything but dark, mournful, mysterious and heavy. On the contrary, it's clownish and laughable.

If you want really dark, mournful, mysterious and heavy, take this:



Whatever the picture, you need to hear the performances. Some of the most interesting Brahms playing in a long time.  Very much in the spirit of his Chopin preludes.  Not sure about the sound quality - it's live, I'm a in the front row or turning the pages - not ideal for me.

What I want to say is this: in this Brahms, you know you're listening to the greatest living pianist.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

vers la flamme

#1071
Quote from: Mandryka on May 11, 2020, 01:14:58 PM
Whatever the picture, you need to hear the performances. Some of the most interesting Brahms playing in a long time.  Very much in the spirit of his Chopin preludes.  Not sure about the sound quality - it's live, I'm a in the front row or turning the pages - not ideal for me.

What I want to say is this: in this Brahms, you know you're listening to the greatest living pianist.

Wow. High praise. All right, I'll definitely have to check it out. I have a bootleg from some live performance or another (maybe a variety of performances) w/ op.79, op.116, & op.117—haven't heard it in a while but I remember being really impressed with Sokolov's playing. If you want it, it's yours.

Question: Why do I see the same album cover for this new DG release in versions with both "Beethoven * Brahms" & "Beethoven * Brahms * Mozart"...?

Mirror Image

Quote from: Florestan on May 08, 2020, 10:48:15 AMIf you want really dark, mournful, mysterious and heavy, take this:



A remarkable painting. Love Friedrich's work.

vers la flamme

Re: that Friedrich painting, it's used on the original jacket artwork for Klemperer's Mahler 4th, a very unusual choice I think. But it does seem to go hand-in-hand with the fact that Klemperer's performance explores a somewhat darker dimension of the work.

Scion7

After several sets, I always wind up coming back to this one of Sonatas No.1 & 2:



Imagine Robert and Clara hearing this in their parlour from the man himself.   0:)
When, a few months before his death, Rachmaninov lamented that he no longer had the "strength and fire" to compose, friends reminded him of the Symphonic Dances, so charged with fire and strength. "Yes," he admitted. "I don't know how that happened. That was probably my last flicker."

vers la flamme

Quote from: Scion7 on September 26, 2020, 04:49:29 PM
After several sets, I always wind up coming back to this one of Sonatas No.1 & 2:



Imagine Robert and Clara hearing this in their parlour from the man himself.   0:)

I don't know if you've read Jan Swafford's Brahms bio, but that part is written grippingly. Meeting the older composer for the first time, Brahms apparently started playing the C major sonata for Robert Schumann, who was so excited by what he was hearing that he stopped the young composer and grabbed his wife from upstairs so she could hear it from the beginning. The beginning of a beautiful and complex relationship between three major artists the likes of which the world of music has never seen.

Anyway I bought the Katchen box set of all his Brahms recordings not long after I started the book, on realizing how little of Brahms's early piano music I had.

Scion7

Yes.  I have six bios on Brahms, plus the chapter in The Stream of Music, Parry, etc.  Probably my favorite composer personality, even if he did dismiss our green and pleasant hills.
When, a few months before his death, Rachmaninov lamented that he no longer had the "strength and fire" to compose, friends reminded him of the Symphonic Dances, so charged with fire and strength. "Yes," he admitted. "I don't know how that happened. That was probably my last flicker."

vers la flamme

I also find him extremely relatable. I'm enjoying the bio a lot.

J

#1078
Quote from: Scion7 on September 27, 2020, 03:36:58 PM
Yes.  I have six bios on Brahms, plus the chapter in The Stream of Music, Parry, etc.  Probably my favorite composer personality, even if he did dismiss our green and pleasant hills.

That Swafford bio is one of the best composer biographies ever, - long as it is, my attention and enthusiasm never once wavered.  And nice to see someone mentioning Richard Leonard's masterful collection of shorter composer bios, "The Stream of Music" that has never been bettered, - a true literary feast and utterly engrossing.

Scion7

... along with Leonard's A History of Russian Music.

The Letters of Brahms and Clara is also a great read - wish it was complete, but we'll never know - thankfully Clara's daughter stopped mum from burning at least some of hers.   :blank:
When, a few months before his death, Rachmaninov lamented that he no longer had the "strength and fire" to compose, friends reminded him of the Symphonic Dances, so charged with fire and strength. "Yes," he admitted. "I don't know how that happened. That was probably my last flicker."