Brahms
Brahms composed for symphony orchestra, chamber ensembles, piano, organ, and voice and chorus. A virtuoso pianist, he premiered many of his own works. He worked with some of the leading performers of his time, including the pianist Clara Schumann and the violinist Joseph Joachim (the three were close friends). Many of his works have become staples of the modern concert repertoire. An uncompromising perfectionist, Brahms destroyed some of his works and left others unpublished.
Brahms has been considered, by his contemporaries and by later writers, as both a traditionalist and an innovator. His music is firmly rooted in the structures and compositional techniques of the Classical masters. While many contemporaries found his music too academic, his contribution and craftsmanship have been admired by subsequent figures as diverse as Arnold Schoenberg and Edward Elgar. The diligent, highly constructed nature of Brahms's works was a starting point and an inspiration for a generation of composers. Embedded within his meticulous structures, however, are deeply romantic motifs.
Brahms
BBC Radio broadcasts from 1950 and 1951
Duration 52:03
Ernest Lush, piano
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 3
BRAHMS Piano Concerto No. 1
Live recordings, 1945/46
Total duration: 75:14
Rudolf Serkin, piano
Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York
conducted by Artur Rodziński
BRAHMS Piano Quartet No.2 in A, Op. 26
Recorded Abbey Road Studio 3, London, 21 September 1932
Duration 39:16
Rudolf Serkin, piano
Members of The Busch Quartet:
Adolf Busch, violin
Karl Doktor, viola
Hermann Busch, cello
TCHAIKOVSKY, GLINKA, RIMSKY-KORSAKOV, LIADOV
GLAZUNOV From the Middle Ages
DUBENSKY Stephen Foster – Theme, Variations and Finale
DUBENSKY Fugue for 18
Violins
CESANA Negro Heaven
GERSHWIN-BENNETT Porgy and Bess: A Symphonic Picture
KHATCHATURIAN Gayaneh – Ballet Suite ENESCU 2 Romanian Rhapsodies
DVOŘÁK 4 Slavonic Dances
BRAHMS 3 Hungarian Dances
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 1, 'Winter Dreams'
KALINNIKOV Symphony No. 1
HAYDN L’Isola Disabitata – Overture
HAYDN Symphony No. 73, “La Chasse”
GRIEG Sigurd Jorsalfar – Suite
GRIEG Peer Gynt – Suite No. 2
GRIEG Symphonic Dances
DELIBES Coppélia - Suite
DELIBES Sylvia - Suite
KHACHATURIAN Masquerade - Suite
music by Kreisler, Sgambati, Weber, J. Strauss II
Studio recordings, 1941-53
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Fabien Sevitzky
BRAHMS 3 Hungarian Dances
DVOŘÁK 4 Slavonic Dances
ENESCU 2 Romanian Rhapsodies
KHATCHATURIAN Gayaneh – Ballet Suite
Studio recordings, 1942 & 1953
Total duration: 78:56
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Fabien Sevitzky
BRAHMS Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 100
BRAHMS Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108
Total duration: 67:21
Albert Spalding, violin
Ernö Dohnányi, piano