Composers Datebook: May 7
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms, German Romantic composer, pianist and conductor, was born May 7, 1833. He is known for his great symphonies. Brahms is considered one of the greatest composers of symphonic music and songs. Initially intended by his parents for a career in the orchestra, he was most brilliant on the piano that eventually his parents decided to pursue his piano at the age of 11. Of significance, was his meeting with the Schumanns, Robert and Clara, and a close friendship developed. He is most famous for his vocal work,
A German Requiem, and of course, as a child, no one can miss his Brahms'
Lullaby.
Born into a Lutheran
family, Brahms spent much of his life in Vienna. His reputation and status as a composer are such that he is sometimes
grouped with JS Bach and Beethoven as one of the "Three Bs" of music, a comment originally made by the 19th century conductor Hans von Bülow.
Brahms composed for symphony orchestra, chamber ensembles, piano, organ, and voice and chorus. A virtuoso pianist, he premiered many of his own works. He worked with leading performers of his time, including the pianist Clara Schumann and the violinist Joseph Joachim. An uncompromising perfectionist, Brahms destroyed some of his works and left others unpublished.
Brahms has been considered, by his contemporaries and by later writers, as both a traditionalist and an innovator. His music is firmly rooted in the structures and compositional techniques of the Classical masters. While many contemporaries found his music too academic, his contribution and craftsmanship have been admired by subsequent prominent composers as diverse as Arnold Schoenberg and Edward Elgar. The diligent, highly constructed nature of his works was an inspiration for a generation of composers. Embedded within his meticulous structures, however, are deeply romantic motifs. (
Brahms: String Sextet, Op.18 - Janine Jansen & Friends - International Chamber Music Festival HD. Uploaded by AVROTROS Klassiek.
Brahms powerful German Requiem / Ein deutsches Requiem, superbly performed by both orchestra and choir. Frankfurt Radio Symphony, David Zinman conducting.
Brahms Symphony No. 3 F Dur op 90. Leonard Bernstein conducting, Wiener Philharmoniker. Youtube, uploaded by Ahmed Barod. Accessed May 8, 2016.
Brahms Piano Trio No.1 in B minor, Op.8. Uploaded by ChamberFest Cleveland. Accessed May 7, 2020.))
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer of the Romantic period, regarded as his country's all-time greatest, was born May 7, 1840, seven years after Brahms. Pyotr (or Piotr) Tchaikovsky is famous for his three famous ballet music:
The Nutcracker, Swan Lake and
Sleeping Beauty. He is also known for his symphonies, piano concerti, chamber and vocal music. Tchaikovsky’s
Piano Concerto No. 1 is one of the the most popular concertos ever written and his
Symphony No. 6, the
‘Pathétique’, is one of the great symphonic masterpieces of all time. He turned to
literary and dramatic sources, including Shakespeare, for a number of orchestral compositions. Tchaikovsky’s music combines tuneful melodies, impressive harmonies and colourful orchestrations. As a young man, he became involved with the nationalist movement, the Mighty Handful or "The Five" when he met Mily Balakirev, one of its founders. Pyotr Tchaikovsky, known for his beautiful melody with such poignant and romantic expression was the first Russian composer to establish a reputation with Western audiences.
Tchaikovsky was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally, bolstered by his appearances as a guest conductor in Europe and the United States. He was honored in 1884 by Tsar Alexander III, and awarded a lifetime pension.
Although musically precocious, Tchaikovsky was educated for a career as a civil servant. At the time there was scant opportunity for a musical career in Russia. When an opportunity arose, he entered the nascent Saint Petersburg Conservatory, from which he graduated in 1865. The formal Western-oriented teaching he received there set him apart from composers of the contemporary nationalist movement embodied by the Russian composers of 'The Five' led my Mily Balakirev, with whom his professional relationship was mixed. Tchaikovsky's training set him on a path to reconcile what he learned with the native musical practices was exposed from childhood. From this reconciliation he forged a personal Russian style—a task that did not prove easy.
On his creativity, Pyotr Tchaikovsky displayed a wide stylistic and emotional range, from light salon works to grand symphonies. Some of his works, such as the
Variations on a Rococo Theme, employ a "Classical" form reminiscent of 18th-century composers most especially that of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, his musical god, and evidently his favourite composer. Other compositions, such as his
Little Russian symphony and his opera
Vakula the Smith, flirt with musical practices more akin to those of the Russian " Mighty Five", especially in their use of folk song. Other works, such as Tchaikovsky's last three symphonies, employ a personal musical idiom that facilitated intense emotional expression. (Here are two of my all-time favourite symphonies: (1)
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 - Russian State Symphony Orchestra/Petrenko (2015).
State Symphony Orchestra of the Russian Federation 'Evgeny Svetlanov' VASILY PETRENKO, conductor. Recording: Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, Moscow, 21 December 2015. (2) "Pathetique" Symphony No. 6, with Barenboim conducting Berliner Philharmoniker. YouTube, Accessed May 7, 2017.
Tchaikovsky - Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 50 (Richter, Kagan, Gutman). Uploaded by Max Lima. Accessed May 7, 2020.)
Marin Marais (31 May 1656 – 15 August 1728), was born and died in Paris. He is said to have brought viola da gamba playing to the highest level of perfection. He was a French composer and viol player who often conducted his own opera. He studied composition with Jean-Baptiste Lully, and with master of the bass viol Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe for few months.
