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Johannes Brahms

Birth: May 7, 1833, Hamburg, Germany
Death: April 3, 1897, Vienna, Austria

Johannes Brahms was born in 1833. His father was a musician, played the double bass and his mother was a seamstress. His father recognized his talent when he was young. He studied piano at seven, theory and composition at thirteen. His first public performance was at the age of fourteen. The next year he was making his living playing in taverns and dance halls. This supported him so that he could study music.

When Brahms was 20, he met Robert Schumann, who recognized his genius and arranged for the publication of his first songs and piano sonatas. He became a devoted friend of Schumann and his wife, Clara. In 1868 he moved to Vienna, conducting the orchestra of the Society of the Friends of Music from 1872 to 1875. After 1875 he devoted himself to composition.

Brahms wrote four symphonies, considered among the greatest in symphonic music. His major choral works included a German requiem, Ein deutsches Requiem, 1866, based on biblical texts rather than on the Roman Catholic requiem mass. His Violin Concerto in D, 1878, the Piano Concerto in B Flat, 1878-81, and the Piano Quintet in F Minor 1864 are standards for orchestras. He composed sonatas, capriccios, intermezzos, ballades and works in almost every genre except opera.

Symphony No. 1 in C minor, written in 1876, is the basis for the hymn tune SYMPHONY, to which we sing "We Are God's People."