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Johannes Brahms – Life Milestones

Johannes Brahms accompanying a singer in a concert hall in Vienna
Johannes Brahms accompanies the singer Alice Barbi during a concert in Vienna, a city that shaped his mature style and became his lifelong artistic refuge.

1833 – Born on May 7 in Hamburg, then part of the German Confederation.
1848 – Makes his public debut in Hamburg.
1850 – Meets the Hungarian violinist Eduard Reményi and composes his first known work, Scherzo in E minor.
1853 – Embarks on his first concert tour; meets Joseph Joachim, is introduced to Franz Liszt, and visits Robert and Clara Schumann in Düsseldorf.
1854 – First public performance of a Brahms work with Clara Schumann at the piano. Robert Schumann attempts suicide and is institutionalized; Brahms remains close to Clara, offering emotional and practical support.
1857 – Appointed Music Director at the court of Detmold.
1858 – Becomes romantically involved with Agathe von Siebold while working on Piano Concerto No. 1.
1859 – Founds a women’s choir in Hamburg.
1862 – Moves to Vienna, the city that would become his permanent artistic home.
1864 – Falls in love with his piano student Elisabeth von Stockhausen.
1865 – His mother dies; Brahms begins work on Ein deutsches Requiem.
1869 – Develops deep feelings for Julie Schumann. Her marriage to another man inspires the Alto Rhapsody.
1871 – Settles permanently in Vienna at the age of 38.
1872 – Appointed Director of the Vienna Philharmonic Society.
1876 – Completes Symphony No. 1, after years of self-criticism and revision.
1878 – First of eight visits to Italy; grows the beard that becomes his unmistakable trademark.
1887 – Composes his final orchestral work, the Double Concerto for Violin and Cello.
1896 – Clara Schumann dies on May 20 after suffering two strokes; Brahms’s health begins to decline.
1897 – Dies of liver cancer on April 3 in Vienna, aged 63.

Biographical Notes

  • Brahms’s troubled relationships with women have often been the subject of speculation. Rumors of sexual inadequacy circulated partly because he retained the purity of his singing voice until the age of 24. It was also said that he grew his famous beard to soften what some perceived as a youthful or delicate appearance.
  • Before leaving home, Brahms once told his father that if he ever found himself in financial difficulty, he should look through one of his old scores. When hardship eventually struck, his father followed the advice—only to discover the manuscript filled with banknotes.
  • Brahms completed his First Symphony only at the age of 43, a delay partly due to the immense shadow cast by Ludwig van Beethoven. Like Beethoven, Brahms was a pianist who settled permanently in Vienna, and Beethoven’s symphonic legacy stood at the pinnacle of public admiration throughout Brahms’s lifetime.


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