Johannes Brahms(l833 - 1897), German composer, born Hamburg. He received his first music lessons from his father, a double-bass player, studying afterwards under Marxsen of Altona. He appeared in public as a pianist at the age of 15, but continued his studies and composition without ceasing until 1853, when he went on a concert tour with Remenyi, the Hungarian violinist. During this tour he made the acquaintance of Joachim, who, recognizing his genius, became his friend, and gave him letters of introduction to Liszt and Schumann, who both appreciated his work, the latter proclaiming him to be 'the coming composer'.

In 1857 he was made director of the court concerts and choral society at Detmold, this appointment he held for 4 years, with plenty of leisure for study and composition. In Jan. 1859, at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, he produced his piano concerto in D minor, a work so new and opposed to convention that at first it was a failure, but, played by Clara Schumann and others, it gradually won favour throughout Germany. In 1862 Brahms settled in Vienna. Though his music was classical in spirit, yet its form and treatment were so individual and presented so many new and difficult problems that he was not generally understood or appreciated for many years.

He refused to write opera, and only 2 of his leading compositions were inspired from without--the Deutsches Requiem by the death of his mother in 1865, and the Triumphlied by the German victories of 1870-1. Many of his works were produced in pairs having some resemblance in form and expression; this is shown especially in his 1st and 2nd, and 3rd and 4th symphonies. His numbered works amount to 122, and the collections and studies without opus number fill several more vols. A firm believer in 'absolute music', Brahms regarded himself as the champion of classicism. Yet in his songs, chamber music and symphonies he is a romanticist and the true successor of Schumann. In the earlier part of his career he wrote chiefly chamber music, piano solos and songs. His orchestration, though never brilliant and sometimes awkward in terms of balance, is never colourless, and the medium is inseparable from the ideas. His piano music often presents difficulties which arise from his individual method of fingering. His choral writing is effective, even though it sometimes imposes a severe strain on the singers. By nature a lyrical composer, he was a master of song-writing in a largely traditional style.