Stephen Johnson explores the influences behind Brahms's German Requiem, from Bach's cantatas to the tragic death of Brahms's mentor, Robert Schumann. Show more

Stephen Johnson explores Brahms's Symphony No. 1, which took the composer around 20 years to compose. While Brahms strove to create his own unique sound, critics pounced upon it. Show more

Stephen Johnson compares the first published works of Brahms and Berg, examining how each re-imagined the classical idea of a 'piano sonata'. Show more

Laura Tunbridge and Julian Johnson discuss Brahms's German Requiem in a discussion recorded at the Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall of the Royal College of Music.

Ian Skelly is joined by Laura Tunbridge and Nicholas Baragwanath to examine Brahms's place in the great tradition of German composers and discuss how he learnt his trade. Show more

Nikolaj Znaider with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Fabio Luisi

The Cleveland Orchestra performs Brahms's First Symphony and his Academic Festival Overture. Plus the UK premiere of a flute concerto by clarinettist and composer Jorg Widmann. Show more

Tom Service is joined by musicologist Kenneth Hamilton and critic and broadcaster Stephen Johnson to discuss the real Brahms, a composer who is often misunderstood. Show more

Brahms’s sunny Second Symphony, whose lyrical, pastoral spirit harks back to Beethoven's own ‘Pastoral’ Symphony (No. 6). Show more

Brahms's German Requiem was written as a tribute to his mother - and possibly his friend and fellow-composer Robert Schumann - and designed to comfort the grieving. Show more

Brahms’s dramatic First Symphony, whose darkness and drama eventually give way to an ending of transcendent musical triumph.