Brahms - love him or hate him

[acciaccatura]

What is not to like? Most of Brahms' output is of the highest standard, even though he could be labeled a 'conservative'. But his works, arguably unlike another conservative composer such as Rachmaninov, are mostly of a caliber that makes them stand out as reference - all of his four symphonies and German Requiem, most of his chamber music and piano music and concertos are masterworks. Brahms also excelled as lied composer with a surprisingly large output that is not as well known.

Brahms is difficult to work with for musicians because of technical demands, but rewarding. His music really sounds big, spacious and serious - even in his lighter music such as the liebeslieder-waltzes or hungarian dances. All I can say is listen for yourself - you almost cannot go wrong, regardless of where you begin.

[Dcomposing]

Thank you for sharing the Post on Brahms. In my eyes, having fallen in love with Brahms at the tender and oh so impressionable age of 13 under the spell of his piano Intermezzo op 118, no. 2 in AM, he is forever in my heart. I can only dream of achieving in melody and complete emotional composition what he has so eloquently offered. My first love.

[draug]

I won't say that I am a Brahms lover, for this sounds a touch kinky....however, as I remarked in a previous post, his symphonies are comfort food for me.
Most of my love of classical music stems from childhood memories of my parents' radio and vinyl choices. Whilst I drudged away hopelessly at the piano before abandoning it, almost completely, in my early 20's, my listening was passionately omnivorous. Brahms was a staple in my musical diet.
One lousy marriage and some hugely life-changing events later....I had moved abroad and began to replace all my old 'taped from the radio' and vinyl music with CDs and had the money to buy an excellent stereo. Brahms was a revelation. I agree that not one note is superfluous. Despite his 'Grand Old Man' appearance and grumpy reputation, if one reads about him, his comments are always light and full of humour. For example, referring to the second movement of the PC no. 2 as 'a little wisp of a scherzo!'
Recently, I have begun to delve into his choral music and find this to be perhaps the most extraordinary element of his oevre.
Anyway, definitely not hate!

[Art Rock]

He is in my top 5 composers, courtecy especially of his symphonies, his amazing chamber music (apart from the string quartets) and his vocal output (especially the Deutsches Requiem).

[the maestro]

For me, Brahms symphonies ar the greatest ever written. They are even better than Beethoven's.

[Corno Dolce]

Yes, his symphonies are among the mightiest ever written. They eloquently testify to a soul that has been tested by the refiner's fire and has come out as pure as pure can be.

[marval]

Brahms Violin Concerto

Heaven to the ears


Margaret

[Kromme]

I love Brahms and i would like to meet the one who has strange enough opinions and tastes on music to hate Brahms' music very much.