Johannes Brahms

A New York Times Notable Book This brilliant and magisterial book is a very good bet tobecome the definitive study of Johannes Brahms The Plain DealerJudicious, compassionate, and full of insight into Brahms s human complexity as well as his music, Johannes Brahms is an indispensable biography.Proclaimed the new messiah of Romanticism by Robert Schumann when he was only twenty, Johannes Brahms dedicated himself to a long and extraordinarily productive career In this book, Jan Swafford sets out to reveal the little known Brahms, the boy who grew up in mercantile Hamburg and played piano in beer halls among prostitutes and drunken sailors, the fiercely self protective man who thwarted future biographers by burning papers, scores and notebooks late in his life Making unprecedented use of the remaining archival material, Swafford offers richly expanded perspectives on Brahms s youth, on his difficult romantic life particularly his longstanding relationship with Clara Schumann and on his professional rivalry with Lizst and Wagner Johannes Brahms will no doubt stand as the definitive work on Brahms, one of the monumental biographies in the entire musical library London Weekly Standard It is a measure of the accomplishment of Jan Swafford s biography that Brahms s sadness becomes palpable Swafford manages to construct a full bodied human being The New York Times Book Review Free Read Books Johannes Brahms by Jan Swafford – kino-fada.fr I found this a very well researched and readable biography of one of the greatest composers of his generation and the last of the 3 B s of classical music Johannes Brahms Mr Swafford looks a Brahms life from his childhood in Hamburg through to his death in Vienna In telling his story, the author looks at his loves, rivalries, his penchant for brutal honesty and even his agnosticism His the preface, the author states that writing a biography of Brahms isdifficult than some of the othe I found this a very well researched and readable biography of one of the greatest composers of his generation and the las...Johannes Brahms is one of the greatest composers of all time He wrote 4 beautiful symphonies, all of which I have listened to and loved My favorite piece by Brahms would probably be the Piano Quintet in F minor, it is really dramatic The fiery elegance of the piece will take your breath away.A very nicely paced narrative of a great and interesting man and his times Because of the intelligence of the author and his respect for his subject, I became filled with enthusiasm for Brahms and listened to a lot of his music I travelled through his life with him from Opus 1 on About half the music was new to me thank you, YouTube Though I m an amateur, almost all the musical analysis was accessible and helpful I...This is, by far, the best biography of any composer I have read It not only presented interesting information about Brahms, the man, it also presented concurrent and detailed analysis of some of his seminal works As I was reading, I would go f...This lengthy biography was an endlessly fascinating read Swafford focuseson Brahms life , psychology, and relationships than on analyses of his compositional technique and development There is a lot of detail here, but the prose never bogs down Swafford has a great deal of insight into Brahms motivations and his position as a relatively conservative yet daring composer caught between the waning of Romanticism and the emergence of modernism The analysis and discussion of Brahms music This lengthy biography was an endlessly fascinating read Swafford focuseson Brahms life , psychology, and relationships than on analyses of his compositional technique and development There is a lot of detail here, but the prose never bogs down Swafford has a great deal of insight into Brahms motivations and his position as a relatively conservative yet daring composer caught between the waning of Romanticism and the emergence of modernism The analysis and discussion of Brahms music that does appear in the text makes the latter clear, and helps to explain the richness in in these pieces.He also has a very clear eye regarding his subject, portraying Brahms as a complex pers...A marvelously readable and balanced biography I enjoyed it thoroughly My brother and sister in law, both highly trained musicians that read, will get the parts I missed where Swafford illustrates a point about the music by printing out a section of various scores Still, even if you...It took me a lot longer to finish this book than it did for others of my musical friends who ve read this fantastic biography, but that hadto do with my impatience with musical analysis than other factors after all, the book IS a scholarly work, even though it generally reads as a story anyone would pore over with great interest so long as the reader loves the music of Brahms, anyway It IS a large tome, though over 600 pages, easily and there s so much to digest, it takes doing so a It took...Richly researched and written, it would be a joy for anybody interested in Brahms and his musical century Swafford s insight into the nuances of the mythical rivalry between Brahms and Wagner is a particular revelation Also, his ability to place the featured works of Brahms within the context of his life story is masterful, taking us as close as we can get to the mind of the composer in creating them and of his friends in particular, the Schumanns upon first hearing them Of the books faults Richly researched and written, it would be a joy for anybody interested in Brahms and his musical century Swafford s insight into the nuances of the mythical rivalry between Brahms and Wagner...I almost didn t want to read it after I read the introduction, but I was won over once the focus was Brahms and not Swafford I read this when I was a caste away in Orange County California and I think some of my happiest memories from that first stranding are of reading this book.The only problem is that at times Swafford admits that Brahms is not as great as Beethoven Of course he isn t, but whenever he did that I wanted to put the book down and go read another Beethoven biography It s not t I almost didn t want to read it after I read the introduction, but I was won over once the focus was Brahms and not Swafford I read this when I was a caste away in Orange County California and I think some of my happiest memories from that first stranding are of reading this book.The only problem is that at times Swafford admits that Brahms is not as great as Beethoven Of course he isn t, but whenever ...Maybe I don t love Brahms enough, but I found this book to be too detailed It would go on an on about very minor little historical characters and their interaction with Brahms I felt like I was sifting, along with the researcher, through piles and piles of papers to get to the essence of who Brahms was I wish he would have beenwilling to not share EVERYTHING he researched I finally gave up after reading about 450 pages of this tedious book I will say that it is well researched and con Maybe I don t love Brahms enough, but I found this book to be too detailed It would go on an on about very minor little historical characters and their interaction with Brahms I felt like I was sifting, along with the researcher, through piles and piles of papers to get to the essence of who Brahms was I wish he would have beenwilling to not share EVERYTHING he researched I finally gave up after reading about 450 pages of this tedious book I...

• English
• 07 August 2017
Jan Swafford
• Paperback
• 699 pages
• 0679745823
• Jan Swafford
• Johannes Brahms