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Composer of the Week

Music: Classical

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

An informative and accessible guide to composers' lives and their music.

Composer of the Week: Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Composer of the Week: Johannes Brahms (1833-1897): Episode 1: The Summer of Love

Brahms Experience: Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Episode 1

Episode 1: The Summer of Love

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

The Summer of Love

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), The Summer of Love

Donald Macleod focuses on Brahms's secret engagement to Agathe von Siebold.

Donald Macleod focuses on Brahms's secret engagement to Agathe von Siebold. Including Trennung; Bergrabnisgesang, Op 13; Piano Concerto No 1 (1st mvt); String Sextet No 1 (4th mvt).

Johannes Brahms becomes secretly engaged to Agathe von Siebold, presented by Donald Macleod

German composer Johannes Brahms became a significant figure in Western music during his own lifetime, and has retained this position ever since. His works were performed throughout Europe, the UK and the USA, and displayed much passion in keeping with the musical language of the mid to late nineteenth century. Donald Macleod this week explores some of the larger orchestral works Brahms composed, taking on the mantle from Beethoven and Schubert, and the periods in which they were written. The series includes the first piano concerto, his German Requiem, concertos for violin, and violin and cello, and also his third and fourth symphonies.

During the late 1850's Brahms completed his Piano Concerto No 1 in D minor. It was a period when his relationship was developing with Clara Schumann, and the concerto itself became marked by the memory of Robert Schumann's attempted suicide. It was also a time when Brahms was introduced to, and later secretly became engaged to Agathe von Siebold, although when he should have been more interested in composing a Bridal Song his thoughts actually turned to composing a Funeral Anthem, Begräbnisgesang. Clara Schumann told Brahms she'd like it to be performed at her own funeral. Within a short space of time, Brahms broke off his engagement to Agathe.

Brahms, arr. Joseph Joachim
Hungarian Dance No 5 in G minor
Hagai Shaham, violin
Arnon Erez, piano

Vor dem Fenster, Op 14 No 1
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone
Wolfgang Sawallisch, piano

Trennung
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone
Wolfgang Sawallisch, piano

Begräbnisgesang, Op 13
North German Radio Chorus
North German Symphony Orchestra
Günter Jena, conductor

Piano Concerto No 1 in D minor, Op 15 (1st mvt)
Nicholas Angelich, piano
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra
Paavo Järvi, conductor

String Sextet No 1 in B flat major, Op 18 (4th mvt)
Berlin Philharmonic Octet

Producer Luke Whitlock.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Johannes Brahms

Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Johannes Brahms, focusing on some of his larger orchestral works

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Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Episode 1: The Summer of Love

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