Johannes Brahms
John WorthenReveals the passion, humour and humanity of Brahms behind the myth.
Johannes Brahms is often cast as repressed or emotionally distant. This nuanced biography by acclaimed biographer John Worthen reveals a more complex and human figure – brilliant, passionate and deeply committed both to his art and to those he loved. Brahms’s lifelong devotion to Clara Schumann shaped much of his personal and creative life, while his refusal to conform to social expectations kept him at odds with the genteel world around him. Raised in modest circumstances, he remained proudly working class even as he became one of the greatest composers of his time, with works ranging from the intimacy of the ‘Alto Rhapsody’ to the humane power of ‘A German Requiem’. Worthen shows us the man behind the music – blunt, brilliant and fiercely alive.
Reveals the passion, humour and humanity of Brahms behind the myth.
Johannes Brahms is often cast as repressed or emotionally distant. This nuanced biography by acclaimed biographer John Worthen reveals a more complex and human figure – brilliant, passionate and deeply committed both to his art and to those he loved. Brahms’s lifelong devotion to Clara Schumann shaped much of his personal and creative life, while his refusal to conform to social expectations kept him at odds with the genteel world around him. Raised in modest circumstances, he remained proudly working class even as he became one of the greatest composers of his time, with works ranging from the intimacy of the ‘Alto Rhapsody’ to the humane power of ‘A German Requiem’. Worthen shows us the man behind the music – blunt, brilliant and fiercely alive.
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Brahms’s later life is well known, but we hear less about the young dynamo whom Joseph Joachim described in 1853 as “this green-gold baby tiger”. In this sympathetic and level-headed biography, John Worthen traces Brahms’s early influences, delves into the complexities of his long relationship with Clara Schumann and explores the cast of mind which led him to remain “free but lonely”.
'Susan Tomes, pianist and writer
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This book is very readable, well balanced and highly focused, leaving the mature master to speak for himself. Essential Brahms reading that will appeal to a wide range of readers, musical or not.
'Michael Musgrave, The Juilliard School, author of A Brahms Reader
Sources and Citations
Prelude
1 Isolated
2 Loving
3 Separation
4 ‘A Weird Little Person’
5 Teacher
6 Choirmaster
7 Chamber Musician
8 Composer, Performer
9 Hissed
10 ‘Unchangeable Love’
11 Requiem and Rhapsody
12 Conductor: Symphonic at Last
13 Four Serious Songs
Coda: Becoming Brahms
References
Select Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements
John Worthen is Emeritus Professor of D. H. Lawrence Studies at the University of Nottingham. He is the author of many biographical books, including Robert Schumann: Life and Death of a Musician (2007) and The Life of Percy Bysshe Shelley (2019).