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Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Brahms was one of the leading musicians of the
Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional
life in Vienna. In his lifetime, Brahms' popularity and influence were
considerable; following a comment by the nineteenth-century conductor
Hans von Bülow, he is sometimes grouped with Johann Sebastian Bach and
Ludwig van Beethoven as one of the Three Bs.
Brahms was at once a traditionalist and an innovator. His music is
firmly rooted in the structures and compositional techniques of the
Baroque and Classical masters. He was a master of counterpoint, the
complex and highly disciplined method of composition for which Bach is
famous, and also of development, a compositional ethos pioneered by
Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Beethoven. Brahms aimed to
honour the "purity" of these venerable "German" structures and advance
them into a Romantic idiom, in the process creating bold new approaches
to harmony and melody.
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1. "Selig sind, die da Leid tragen"
2. Denn alles Fleisch, es ist wie Gras
3. Herr, lehre doch mich
4. Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen
5. Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit
6. Denn wir haben hie keine bleibende Statt
7. Selig sind die Toten
"I find the piano colour a little low in
softer parts; and I think, in the first movement, both artists might
pull a rather longer stroke. The sense of going is not quite so strong
as I like it -- the sweep of things. Every note of the clarinet is
sweetly reproduced (the lower register with fine power), and the
piano's sustainment in the trio of the second movement shows the
player's sense of style and the reproducers' ability to feel just what
is the right proportion to balance the clarinet, and be sufficiently
full, without overbearing. The finale is a set of ripe variations. In
the evening sunshine, which has no glare, we may figure two friends
sitting watching, with breath-freeing comfort, the frets of the world.
Yet, as we hear they can still strike a youthful spark one from the
other; and the artist's sense of life's multitudinousness breaks out
with a brave fling." W. R. A. writing in the Gramophone July 1937
Click on image for full size printable inlay
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1st movement
2nd movement
3rd movement
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"The great virtues of Kulenkampff were his
sweet lyrical tone and his exquisite phrasing. He came of a generation
that was not afraid to scoop a little but to my mind even his scoops
are musicianly. He could also play with considerable passion... As with
all 78s, there are tiny fluffs here and there, and traces of faulty
intonation, but this is nevertheless glorious playing by both artists.
The last page of the slow movement is really tremendous, and touched
with inspiration; the phrase may be trite, but it's exact." R.F.
reviewing the LP re-issue in Gramophone May 1965
Click on image for full size printable inlay
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Eight songs by Brahms:
- Treue Liebe Op. 7 No. 1
- Am Sonntag Morgen Op. 49 No. 1
- Auf dem Kirchhofe Op. 105 No. 4
- Wie Melodien ziecht es Op. 105 No. 1
- Alte Liebe Op. 72 No. 1
- Bei dir sind meine Gedanken Op. 95 No. 2
- Wir wandelten Op. 96 No. 2
- Dein blaues Auge Op. 59 No. 8
sung by Kirsten Flagstad with Edwin McArthur
(piano).
Recorded in August 1956 at Decca Studio No2, West Hampstead, London.
All 8 songs
Treue Liebe
Am Sonntag Morgen
Auf dem Kirchhofe
Wie Melodien ziecht
Alte Liebe
Bei dir sind meine Gedankene
Wir wandelten
Dein blaues Auge
"An extremely fine performance in many ways
with plenty of weight and sense of purpose. The playing of the Vienna
Philharmonic is both sensitive and splendidly alive; the slow movement
is throughly felt and eloquently phrased. Krips's reading combines
strength and tenderness, power and lyrical feeling, " R.L. writing
in the Gramophone June 1972
"There are no histrionics about Krips's
reading, in which everything is beautifully proportioned and carefully
calculated. The music moves forward to its natural climaxes, in each of
the four movements, with a wonderful feeling of inevitability that
leads logically and dramatically to the crowning achievement of the
great Finale. The orchestral playing is sensitive, vigorous, and poised
to a nicety, and the recording does full justice to it." R.H.
writing in The Gramophone November 1950
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