Johannes Brahms

Donald Macleod explores the music of Johannes Brahms through his close relationships.

Brahms was a deeply private man and very guarded about his life, his friends and his feelings. Across this week, Donald goes “Behind Closed Doors” with Brahms to discover what really made him tick. He finds friends, mentors and lovers along the way who together help solve the enigma of the composer.

We’ll hear about Brahms’s doomed early romance with a young singer, Agathe von Siebold, plus his lifelong friendships with Robert, and particularly Clara Schumann - probably the person he was closest to in his life. Donald explores the music written for some of the women he knew intimately, and why he sought solitude and how it came to influence his music. Throughout his life, there was a great expectation placed on Brahms’s shoulders. We end by looking at how that shaped his character and music.

Music featured: Sonata No 3 in F minor, Op 5 (4th movement) Lieder & Romanzen, Op 14 (No 4, Ein Sonett & No 7, Ständchen) Piano Concerto No 1 in D minor, Op 15 (1st movement) Ave Maria, Op 12 String Sextet No 2 in G, Op 36 (1. Allegro non troppo) 2 Gavottes, WoO 3 (Nos 1 and 2) Piano Sonata No 1 in C major, Op 1 (1. Allegro) 6 Songs, Op 3 (Nos 2 and 3) Piano Quartet, Op 25 (3rd and 4th movements) String Sextet No 1in B flat major, Op 18 (2nd movement) Piano Quintet in F minor, Op 34A (1st movement) Rhapsody in B minor, Op 79 No 1 6 Songs, Op 7 (Nos 2 -5) Variations in E flat on a Theme by Schumann (Nos 8-11) Alto Rhapsody, Op 53 16 Waltzes, Op 39 (Nos 1-4) Cello Sonata No 1 in E minor, Op 38 (3rd movement - Allegro) Klavierstücke, Op 76 (No 7 - Intermezzo in A major; No 8 - Capriccio in C major) Violin Sonata No 2, Op 100 (1st movement: Allegro amabile) Nanie, Op 82 Piano Concerto No 2 in B flat major, Op 83 (3rd movement - Andante) Serenade No 1 in D major, Op 11 (2nd movement) Piano Sonata No 2 in F sharp minor, Op 2 (4th movement) Vier ernste Gesänge, Op 121 (Nos 3 and 4) Ein Deutsches Requiem [A German Requiem], Op 45 (2nd and 3rd movements)

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Glyn Tansley for BBC Wales

For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Johannes Brahms. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000cb1x

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z