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| Thursday, 1 April 2004 |
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Johannes Brahms: He also scored for ballet by Gwen Herat Many German composers have written music for ballet and opera while others had their music adapted for dancing. Brahms wrote several scores directly for ballet and also had many of his works adapted by choreographers of repute.
The popular works were the Hungarian Dances used mainly for recitals. Massini choreographed CHOREARTIUM using Brahms' 4th Symphony in E Minor in 1933. He was also the choice of Nijinsky who mounted BRAHMS' VARIATION in a collection of variations on Themes by Handel and Paganini in 1974. Brahms was also a firm favourite composer with Balanchine who choreographed LIEBESLLERDER WALTZ in 1960 and again in 1966 he choreographed BRAHMS with the Shoenberg Quintet. LIEBSLLERDER WALTZ was a wonderful bit of art work in ballet which Balanchine choreographed for the New York City Ballet with Brahms scores combined with music of Adamas, Hyden, Verdi etc. The story is based on two sets of waltzers of which one is of four couples doing the Vienese waltzes. It was revived by Balanchine for the Royal Ballet at the Covent Garden in 1979. Choreographer Fields mounted INTERMEZZO to Various Piano Pieces in 1969 while L. Meyers choreographed BRAHMS SONATAS in 1969. The same year, Nahat also choreographed BRAHMS QUINTET while still in the same year of 1969 Walters mounted REMEMBRANCE to Brahms Sextet Strings. While 1969 was a good year for Brahms music in ballet, 1972 also saw two ballets with his music used. Cranko choreographed INITIALS with the 2nd Piano Concerto in B Flat major and Thorpe did same with his Wanderer and his Shadow. Ashton also tried his choreography on this same ballet but with Schubert's music. The popular ballet of the day, One Day also has Brahms' Piano Quintet choreographed by Veredon. Jhannes Brahms was born in Hamburg on 7th May, 1833 and died in Vienna on 3rd April, 1897. He learnt the rudiments of music from his father who played the double bass.
Brahms senior was hoping his musical son would be a part in an orchestra but it turned out that he was displaying a prowess at the keyboard as a young child. He had the natural gift for the piano and was on the brink of being a child prodigy. His tutor, Otto Cassel opposed the young Brahms to be taken on tour as a prodigy. He was to prove right because by twelve, Brahms was improvising on his own compositions. A year he was earning as a pianist at Hamburg. He failed to branch off on a tour which resulted in discouraging the young Brahms. He was forced to earn a meagre living to pay for his music studies. After a brief encounter with violinist, Edhard Remerny whose works fascinated Brahms, the violinist took Brahms to meet another famous violinist named Joseph Joachim who was spellbound by Brahms' music. This meeting helped him perform in the presence of King of Hanover. It also led him to be introduced to two great composers, Liszt and Weimer. However they were not impressed with the 'new star of the moment'. However, the meeting of Robert and Clare Schumann was the best thing that could have happened to Brahms. They were friendly warm and appreciative of his music. They encouraged him and Schumann referred to him as 'the young eagle' and hailed him as a genius. He sent Brahms to Leipzig where he found two publishers. Brahms became a part of the Schumann family. When Schumann suffered a nervous breakdown and attempted to commit suicide, it was Brahms who rushed to Dusseldorf to be with Clara. When widowed, Clara was saddled with seven children and an international concert career to persue, she was distraught. In the meantime, Brahms had fallen in love with Clara and did not declare it until Robert died. Clarae who loved her husband very much kept him at a proper distance. This did not stop his association with her and they remained great friends throughout life. She became a great advocate of Brahms and promoted his works because they both were virtuosos on the keyboards. This relationship had a impact on Brahms. He opted to live simply in a modest lodging. He was not extravagant in his food though he enjoyed eating. Fashionable clothes were not for him but he was absolutely and scrupously clean. He brushed against Liszt and Weimer though he never mentioned names but he roared with success. There was Clarae all the time as a shadow to encourage and help him. He was not a Romantic type composer rather sensitive and alluring in scores. His works surpassed such greats as Liszt, Weimer, Wagner, Tchaikvosky, Verdi, Dvorak and many others who were at the height of their popularity. His reputation firmly established, Brahms was expected to live up to his reputation and he was determine as always determine to create powerful and absolute music. So he was forty-three years old when his Symphony No. 1 in C minor was first heard on 4th November, 1876. There had been no looking back for Johannes Brahms who rose to be one of Germany's great composers, much loved and appreciated for his simple dedicated lifestyle. It is not easy to write or encompass the scores of this genius as there were many different facets. However the closest to describing is that he held a balance between Beethoven the classical composer turned Romantic while Schumann the Romantic turned classical. He came closer to both and was able to leave a more powerful and convincing at the feet of his contemporaries. He was a Master in his own craft who looked more to the past than to the future. Probably Clara Schumann was the only woman that Brahms loved and when she died in 1896, he died less than a year later in 1897, heart-broken. Some of Brahms' famous scores |
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