There’s More to Brahms Than You Think
Summary
TLDRThis video explores the life and music of Johannes Brahms, a composer known for his complex and emotional compositions. It delves into his early life, his perfectionism, and the intriguing love story with Clara Schumann. The narrator discusses Brahms's retirement and later inspiration from clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld, which led to more compositions. The video also shares the narrator's personal journey of composing a clarinet quintet, influenced by Brahms's style and techniques, reflecting on the emotional depth and musical intricacies of Brahms's work.
Takeaways
- 🎼 Brahms is a renowned composer who is often considered an introduction to classical music for many, known for his famous lullaby and other well-known melodies.
- 🎹 Despite his music being accessible, Brahms is recognized as one of the most difficult composers to understand and perform, according to classical musicians.
- 🌟 Brahms is part of the 'Three B's' in classical music, alongside Bach and Beethoven, achieving mastery and recognition by the age of 40.
- 🏠 He grew up in an impoverished neighborhood with a father who was a struggling musician, and began contributing as a musician from an early age.
- 🔥 Brahms was a perfectionist, destroying manuscripts he did not consider perfect, which has resulted in incomplete records of his earliest works.
- 💡 His recognition began with praise from Robert Schumann, a highly regarded composer and music commentator, which sparked an intriguing love story with Schumann's wife, Clara.
- 💕 The relationship between Brahms and Clara Schumann is a mysterious and heartbreaking love affair that has captivated historians and music lovers.
- 🎻 Brahms' composition process was intimately connected to his social circle, including close musician friends like Edward Reményi and Joseph Joachim.
- 🛑 In 1890, Brahms retired from composing at the age of 57, but was inspired to return to writing after meeting clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld.
- 🎷 The script discusses the composer's inspiration for writing a new clarinet quintet, influenced by a personal connection with a clarinetist and a deep dive into Brahms's musical language.
- 📚 The importance of reliable music scores, particularly from Henle Urtext, is highlighted for their quality and the accuracy of dynamic markings, phrasings, and articulation.
Q & A
Who is the composer being discussed in the video?
-The composer being discussed is Johannes Brahms.
What is the famous lullaby mentioned in the script?
-The script does not specify the title of the lullaby, but it is implied to be one of Brahms' well-known compositions.
Why is Brahms considered one of the most difficult composers to understand and perform?
-Brahms is considered difficult to understand and perform due to his complex and nuanced musical language, which requires a deep understanding of his emotional language and compositional techniques.
What is the significance of the 'Three B's' in classical music?
-The 'Three B's' refers to the composers Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms, who are considered the almighty trinity of classical music due to their mastery and significant contributions to the field.
What was Brahms' background growing up?
-Brahms grew up in an impoverished neighborhood with a father who was a struggling musician. He began contributing to the family income by performing music at a young age.
What is known about Brahms' relationship with Clara Schumann?
-Brahms had a deep and possibly unrequited love for Clara Schumann, the wife of composer Robert Schumann. Their relationship was close and ambiguous, lasting for over 30 years.
Why did Brahms retire from composing at the age of 57?
-The exact reasons for Brahms' retirement are not clear, but it is suggested that he may have wanted to step down from the limelight.
What inspired Brahms to come out of retirement?
-Brahms was inspired to come out of retirement after meeting clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld, who motivated him to write more pieces for the clarinet.
What is the significance of the interludes composed by the video creator for the Brahms clarinet quintet?
-The interludes are significant as they were composed to complement or contrast against Brahms's music, offering a unique perspective and artistic interpretation of his work.
What are some of the compositional techniques used by Brahms that the video creator studied?
-The video creator studied Brahms's use of strict forms, melodic material, rhythmic displacement, and thematic development through variations on small motives.
How did the video creator approach writing interludes that fit within the emotional and stylistic context of Brahms' quintet?
-The video creator immersed themselves in Brahms's language, studied his scores, and adopted techniques such as stricter forms and melodic development to create interludes that resonate with the original work.
Outlines
🎼 Introduction to Brahms and His Impact
The video script introduces the renowned composer Johannes Brahms, who is known for his famous lullaby and other accessible yet complex melodies. The narrator shares a personal connection, explaining how studying Brahms has enriched their life by helping to process complex emotions through his music. The video promises to delve into Brahms' intriguing life, his musical language, and how it inspired the narrator's own compositional style. It also mentions the anticipation of sharing a new clarinet quintet influenced by Brahms. The script sets the stage by highlighting Brahms' inclusion in the 'Three B's' of classical music, alongside Bach and Beethoven, and his early achievements that solidified his legacy.
🎹 Brahms' Early Life and Musical Journey
This paragraph delves into Brahms' early life, growing up in poverty and learning music from a young age. Despite his humble beginnings, Brahms displayed prodigious musical talent, mastering various instruments and composing from the age of 14. His perfectionism led him to destroy imperfect manuscripts, resulting in incomplete records of his early works. The paragraph also explores Brahms' rise to fame, including the pivotal moment when Robert Schumann praised him, which initiated a complex and enduring relationship with Schumann's wife, Clara, a renowned pianist and composer. This relationship, along with those with other musicians, significantly influenced Brahms' music, reflecting his deeply personal composition process.
🎻 Composing for the Clarinet Quintet and Brahms' Techniques
The script shifts focus to the narrator's personal experience of composing interludes for the Brahms clarinet quintet, a challenging task due to stylistic differences. It discusses the process of studying Brahms' scores, particularly his dynamic markings, phrasing, and articulation, to understand his musical language. The narrator emphasizes the importance of reliable musical editions, like those from Henle Verlag, for accurate research. The paragraph highlights Brahms' use of complex techniques such as displacement and hemiola, his continuous phrasing, memorable melodies, and the incorporation of folk elements. It also touches on Brahms' references to past music, showcasing his ability to blend tradition with innovation.
🎶 Premiere of the New Composition and Reflections
The final paragraph describes the premiere of the narrator's new composition at the West End micro Music Festival, performed by musicians who were part of the festival. It reflects on the emotional depth and the blending of historical and contemporary elements in the piece, aiming to complement or contrast with Brahms' quintet. The script concludes with gratitude towards the clarinetist who inspired the composition, the sponsor of the video, and the audience for their support and engagement. It also hints at future collaborations and the ongoing journey of musical exploration and creation.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Classical Music
💡Brahms
💡Lullaby
💡Composition
💡Perfectionist
💡Robert Schumann
💡Clara Schumann
💡Chamber Music
💡Clarinet Quintet
💡Henle Urtext
💡Interlude
Highlights
The speaker bets that the famous lullaby by Brahms is likely the introduction to classical music for many.
Brahms is considered one of the most difficult composers to understand and perform.
Studying Brahms has brought a lot of beauty into the speaker's life and helps process complex emotions.
Brahms is part of the 'Three B's' in classical music, alongside Bach and Beethoven.
Brahms achieved mastery and recognition by the age of 40, with works like a symphony and a Requiem.
Brahms grew up in an impoverished neighborhood and contributed to the family income through music.
Brahms was a perfectionist, destroying manuscripts he didn't consider perfect.
The famous composer Robert Schumann praised Brahms, initiating a significant relationship with Clara Schumann.
Brahms had a mysterious and possibly unrequited love affair with Clara Schumann.
Brahms's compositions were influenced by his social circle, including musician friends like Edward Reményi and Joseph Joachim.
Brahms retired from composing at 57 but was inspired to return by clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld.
The speaker relates to Brahms's experience of being inspired by a clarinetist to write music.
The speaker studied Brahms's works and composed interludes for the Brahms clarinet quintet.
Henle Urtext is praised for its reliable and high-quality music scores, both physical and digital.
Brahms's music is described as challenging and not straightforward in emotional language.
Brahms's music explores dissonance and the conflict between different musical ideas.
The speaker's interludes were designed to complement or contrast Brahms's music artistically.
Brahms's techniques, such as thematic material and rhythm, were studied and applied in the speaker's composition.
The speaker's new piece, inspired by Brahms, is described as a 'memory of a memory' with emotional distortion.
The piece was premiered at the West End Micro Music Festival and is performed by its musicians.
Transcripts
foreign
[Music]
almost everyone has heard his music and
in fact I'm gonna bet that even if his
name doesn't sound familiar he was your
introduction to classical music that's
because he of course wrote this famous
lullaby which probably put you to sleep
when you were a baby and many other
well-known Melodies that are completely
accessible at the same time however he
is one of the most difficult composers
to truly understand and to perform ask
any classical musician and they'll be
able to relate I want to talk about
Brahms because studying him has brought
a lot of beauty into my life lately
listening to his music helps me process
some of the most complex and pent-up
emotions that I think are hard to
release otherwise
in this video I'll be covering a bit
about his fascinating and unusual life
his musical language and how his unique
way of composing inspired me to write
music in a way that I've never done
before at the end of the video I'll
share with you my new clarinet quintet
which was created in this process so
many composers have interesting
backstories but the life of Brahms
really reads like a novel
composer that's included in the almighty
Trinity of classical music composers The
Three B's Bach Beethoven and Brahms as
coined by the famous conductor Hans Von
pulo he achieved this level of Mastery
and recognition by the time he was only
40 years old having completed a symphony
and a Requiem among many other pieces
these solidified his place in music
history
[Music]
he grew up in an impoverished
neighborhood under a father who was a
struggling musician at the time and from
an early age Brahms chipped in by
gigging as a musician as well both by
putting on his own concerts and playing
music in the streets and on tramps by
the time he was a teenager there was
really nothing that he couldn't play on
the piano
foreign
mastered the keys and this was also when
he started to write his own music the
first composition it was 14 years old he
was allowed to conduct a little choir of
men in Vinson
[Music]
a choir he was also a massive
perfectionist and any manuscript that he
didn't think was absolutely perfect he
would destroy so we don't have all of
the records of what he's written for his
earliest Works he even used different
pseudonyms in this concert he called
himself
but he was a player okay I think this
says a lot about his character and also
the amount of pressure that he put on
himself to follow in the direct
footsteps of the greats
foreign
one of the most famous moments of
recognition for him was when Robert
Schumann a highly regarded composer and
music commentator of the time gave
Brahms full praise in one of his
Publications this is of course the start
of perhaps one of the most intriguing
love stories in the history of classical
music The Mysterious and heartbreaking
love affair between Brahms and Clara
Schumann who was Robert schumann's wife
and a famous pianist composer herself it
isn't entirely clear whether or not the
relationship was ever fully manifested
but it's well known that Brahms fell
deeply in love with Clara Schumann
around the time that Robert Schumann
fell ill and passed away the two
maintained a close but ambiguous
relationship for the next 30-something
years and this story continues to
Fascinate historians and music lovers
today I think it's important to note
that their relationship was heavily
intertwined with music other close
musician friends in his life such as
Hungarian violinist Edward Remini and
Joseph Joachim also inspired a great
deal of his music this was a common
theme for Brahms part of his composition
process was intimately connected to his
Social Circle and important people in
his life many of whom he played music
with in 1890 when Brahms was just 57
years old he announced his retirement
from composing music the exact reasons
aren't clear but it may have been that
he wanted to just step down from the
Limelight only a year later however he
met clarinetus Ricard mufeld who
inspired ROMs to cancel his retirement
to write more pieces for the clarinet I
really love this bit of History because
I personally relate to this not the
retirement part but having met a
clarinetist who gets me to write music
so one of my best and long time friends
Brad Sherwin is an incredible clarinet
player and music director of a couple
different ensembles and festivals we
both share a passion for standard
classical repertoire and contemporary
music he's consistently been one of my
big biggest cheerleaders and is always
encouraging me to write new music for
different occasions and he is a massive
Brahms fan he had these super huge
emotional
responses to things that he sublimated
it's always beneath the surface and
almost breaking through but he uses
these masterful structures to hold them
in so the most recent music that I wrote
for Brad is a set of interludes that can
be placed in between the movements of
the Brahms clarinet quintet this was a
pretty unusual type of assignment for me
because my style of writing doesn't
exactly mesh well with brahms's sound
you do not write in a bronzing mode at
all so it was kind of fun to push
against that and take ideas from that
and kind of apply them to your style
which is super anti-romantic before I
started writing anything I of course
studied the clarinet quintet but also a
bunch of his other works I scanned
through many scores and I try to just
immerse myself in brahms's language and
speaking of Music scores please allow me
to take this moment to mention a few
things about Henley verlog sponsor of
this video I've been using Henley scores
for as long as I can remember and
they're my go-to Edition for so many
works and so many composers they're
always reliable the quality of the
printing is just for the next level and
I personally just love handling the
scores physically but also I really
appreciate the fact that they have a
very expansive digital catalog and I
especially made use of this while
studying through a lot of Brahms scores
while writing the quintet now when it
comes to the details of these scores
especially when it comes to Dynamic
markings phrasings articulation it's so
important to have a reliable addition
because you need a lot of research to
get all of these correct and they're
constantly changing so the research
continues and actually Henley is just
about completing their complete edition
of brahms's works the first edition
1927 second edition new it it's not
finished now so I actually played a lot
of Brahms growing up especially in
Conservatory so many of his chamber
works but I always found his music to be
incredibly difficult pianistically
challenging a bit awkward very demanding
but even more than that the emotional
language was just something that I
didn't quite understand and
um
his music is not very straightforward
when it comes to emotional language and
I think this is why Brahms really grows
on people over time instead of the
opposite and his music really gets
better the more you listen to it he's
always exploring like the dissonance
between two idea videos right like what
is the conflict between major and minor
what is the conflict between duple and
triple you know in this piece what is
the conflict between a wind instrument
and a string instrument you know these
different sounds modernism and
classicism and I think he viewed it as
like representative of the nuances
present in the world like nothing is
ever just one way or the other it's
always
a mixture mixture since the interludes
were going to be inserted in between the
movements of the Brahms quintet I really
had to think about how they can either
complement or contrast against brahms's
music in a way that artistically made
sense in order to do this I looked at
specific techniques scattered throughout
brahms's movements his thematic material
is rather not simple but concise
[Applause]
and everything builds up in a staggered
way so that there's room for the rug
underneath to sort of move around right
the entire thing is variations right on
these little motives his rhythm is
really interesting even the cello Viola
part right at the opening
[Music]
stops this from just going forward with
a Melody that just explores you know
right it's this sweeping six eight
Melody that immediately is ground to a
halt foreign
and then it opens up again obviously in
D Major
[Music]
he uses this like displacement technique
which is essentially an extension of
hemiola almost even here we're like is
the cello playing the downbeat or is the
cell playing offbeats is the clearing
you know it's still within the six eight
feel right part of you wants to hear it
as half a measure but it's on the second
eighth note
foreign
[Applause]
ly we're in a very different harmonic
place and he's placing the emphasis on
what one of the weakest parts of the
measure but he also doesn't stay there
to now establish a new rhythmic figure
in terms of phrasing there's a lot of
continuity it's like a constant stream
of thoughts you're never going to hear a
5-1 Cadence and then a rest and then he
starts the next Melody his Melodies are
extremely memorable he thinks
melodically and you know has this huge
repertoire of songs kind of as a result
foreign
[Music]
this piece like a lot of brahm's other
music has this folk idiom contained
within it
[Music]
Brahms is not a cadenza composer but
this is a you know essentially a cadenza
[Music]
but it's bronzian in the sense that this
is a folk element He makes a ton of
reference to past music The First theme
of the second movement
[Music]
is a partial quote of the First theme of
Mozart's quintet right
which you used in your piece so it's
like a double quote
good
and The Ensemble itself is a quote he
chose this Ensemble as a reference to
that specific piece and he also used the
clarinet in a yeah exactly in the spirit
of Brahms I really kept in mind that I
was referring to a historic piece of
music and so I adopted some of brahms's
techniques such as using stricter forms
and melodic material I tried to tap into
a deeper pull of emotional color than
I'm typically used to and for me this
movement is sort of like a memory of a
memory where a lot of these emotions
start to get distorted both in beautiful
and unsettling ways now here is the
Music performed by musicians from the
West End micro Music Festival where the
piece was premiered
[Music]
[Music]
foreign
[Music]
foreign
foreign
[Music]
[Music]
foreign
[Music]
[Music]
thanks for getting me to write this and
experience this with you
and she will be writing more pieces for
me this year that is true
[Music]
and this continues yeah
exactly there is no beginning there is
no end thank you so much to my patrons
on patreon thank you to Henley for
sponsoring this video and to you all for
watching and subscribing I'll see you in
the next video
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