Symphony No. 2 by Johannes Brahms

Here is the Wiener Philharmoniker in 1982 directed by Leonard Bernstein performing Symphony No. 2 by Johannes Brahms.

I am listening to it today to be motivated, refreshed with the way it goes, catch some tips on tempo, intonation, expressiveness, ensemble, and anything else that I can catch to get ready for the rehearsal Monday with the Louisville Philharmonia.

Brahms wrote his Second Symphony in D Major on his summer vacation of 1877 in the village of Portschach. just months after his celebrated First Symphony. On December 30, 1877 the Second Symphony was premiered by Hans Richter. Following in the footsteps of Beethoven, the symphony is about 40 minutes. Some call this the Pastoral Symphony in memory and comparison with Beethoven.

 You never get to old or too good to gain from others, especially master musicians. Bernstein is an especially good conductor so I am appreciate listening to this recording. Enjoy!

Johannes Brahms: Composer of the Month

Brahms having fun!

Period: Romantic

Nationality: German

Born: May 7, 1833 A.D. in Hamburg, Germany.

Died: April 3, 1897 A.D. in Vienna, Austria

Family: Johann & Henrika Brahms (parents), he never married.

Contemporaries: Anton Bruckner, Franz Liszt, Robert and Clara Schumann, Piotr Tchaikovski, Richard Wagner.

Specialty: A German Requiem, Hungarian Dances, 4 Symphonies, and Piano Sonatas.

His Beginning

     Johannes was born to Johann Jakob Brahms. His dad liked his name very much, so he gave it to his son with a little difference, adding "es." His dad played the double bass, that big string instrument in the orchestra you have to stand to play most of the time.
Johanna Henrika Christiane Nissen was Johann Jakob's housekeeper.  Even though she was 17 years older than him, Johann like her so much he decided to marry her. So Johannes' dad got a good deal, he married Johanna so that he did not have to keep paying for the cleaning and had Johannes.

Johannes was born in 1833 A.D. in the country of Germany in a continent called Europe.  Now the cool thing is that he got to live in Hamburger, Germany.  Just kidding, it was called Hamburg, though kind sounds like hamburger.  This was around this time Andrew Jackson was the president of the United States for the second term.

His Education

     Johannes started learning the piano at age 7 from a man named Otto Friedrich Willibald after his dad taught him some things.  The cool thing was that Brahms got good enough to play for people at restaurants and theaters (different from today because they did not watch movies). After Johannes got a little older even started teaching piano lessons to people. And do you know what he did with part of the money he earned? He helped his parents by paying some of the bills, cool stuff!

Later on Johannes Brahms took lessons from the famous Eduard Marxsen, but why is this important? Well, Marxsen’s teacher learned how to play the piano from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, so Brahms got to hear from his teacher about Mozart.

His Career

Brahms worked hard at playing the piano, conducting orchestras and composing music because he was passionate about it. Always work hard at the good things you are interested in and are responsible for.

Here are some of the pieces that Brahms wrote, conducted and played: 
4 symphonies, 2 piano concertos, 1 violin concerto, 2 serenades, A German Requiem for the choir and orchestra, 1 Double Concerto for Violin and Violoncello, 3 string quartets, 2 string quintets, 2 string sextets, 3 violin sonatas, 2 violoncello sonatas, 2 clarinet sonatas, piano sonatas and many others.

We do not even have all of Brahms' pieces because he was a perfectionist (very picky) about what he wrote, so some pieces he just burned up!
                                             
Copyright © 2013 Mircea & Daniyela Ionescu. All rights reserved.