What do you think?
Rate this book
Johannes Brahms: A Biography
A New York Times Notable Book
"This brilliant and magisterial book is a very good bet to...become the definitive study of Johannes Brahms."-- The Plain Dealer
Judicious, compassionate, and full of insight into Brahms's human complexity as well as his music, Johannes Brahms is an indispensable biography.
Proclaimed the new messiah of Romanticism by Robert Schumann when he was only twenty, Johannes Brahms dedicated himself to a long and extraordinarily productive career. In this book, Jan Swafford sets out to reveal the little-known Brahms, the boy who grew up in mercantile Hamburg and played piano in beer halls among prostitutes and drunken sailors, the fiercely self-protective man who thwarted future biographers by burning papers, scores and notebooks late in his life. Making unprecedented use of the remaining archival material, Swafford offers richly expanded perspectives on Brahms's youth, on his difficult romantic life--particularly his longstanding relationship with Clara Schumann--and on his professional rivalry with Lizst and Wagner.
"[ Johannes Brahms ] will no doubt stand as the definitive work on Brahms, one of the monumental biographies in the entire musical library."-- London Weekly Standard
"It is a measure of the accomplishment of Jan Swafford's biography that Brahms's sadness becomes palpable.... [Swafford] manages to construct a full-bodied human being."-- The New York Times Book Review
"This brilliant and magisterial book is a very good bet to...become the definitive study of Johannes Brahms."-- The Plain Dealer
Judicious, compassionate, and full of insight into Brahms's human complexity as well as his music, Johannes Brahms is an indispensable biography.
Proclaimed the new messiah of Romanticism by Robert Schumann when he was only twenty, Johannes Brahms dedicated himself to a long and extraordinarily productive career. In this book, Jan Swafford sets out to reveal the little-known Brahms, the boy who grew up in mercantile Hamburg and played piano in beer halls among prostitutes and drunken sailors, the fiercely self-protective man who thwarted future biographers by burning papers, scores and notebooks late in his life. Making unprecedented use of the remaining archival material, Swafford offers richly expanded perspectives on Brahms's youth, on his difficult romantic life--particularly his longstanding relationship with Clara Schumann--and on his professional rivalry with Lizst and Wagner.
"[ Johannes Brahms ] will no doubt stand as the definitive work on Brahms, one of the monumental biographies in the entire musical library."-- London Weekly Standard
"It is a measure of the accomplishment of Jan Swafford's biography that Brahms's sadness becomes palpable.... [Swafford] manages to construct a full-bodied human being."-- The New York Times Book Review
699 pages, Paperback
First published November 25, 1997
About the author
Jan Swafford
11 books138 followersJan Swafford is a composer and writer. His musical works range from orchestral and chamber to film and theater music, including four pieces for orchestra, Midsummer Variations for piano quintet, They That Mourn for piano trio, They Who Hunger for piano quartet, From the Shadow of the Mountain for string orchestra and the theatrical work, Iphigenia, for choir, instruments and a narrator.
Swafford's music has been played around the country and abroad by ensembles including the symphonies of Indianapolis, St. Louis, Harrisburg, Springfield, Jacksonville, Chattanooga and the Dutch Radio. Among his honors are a National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) Composers Grant and two Massachusetts Artists Council Fellowships. His work appears on CRI recordings and is published by Peer Southern. From 1999-2002, he was Composer-in-Residence of Market Square Concerts in Harrisburg.
Swafford holds degrees in music from Harvard and Yale. His teachers have included Jacob Druckman, Earl Kim and, at Tanglewood, Betsy Jolas. From 1988-1989 he was a Mellon Faculty Fellow at Harvard. Swafford currently teaches music history, theory and composition at The Boston Conservatory.
As a musical journalist and scholar, Swafford has appeared in Slate, Guardian International, Gramophone, Symphony and 19th-Century Music. He has written program notes for the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), the Chicago and San Francisco Symphonies, Chamber Music at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall programs and Naxos and Sony Classical Recordings. Since 1998, he has participated in musical features on Nation Public Radio (NPR's) Performance Today and Morning Edition, and he is a regular preconcert lecturer for the BSO. His books include The Vintage Guide to Classical Music and the biographies, Charles Ives: A Life with Music from Norton (nominated for a National Book Critics Circle award, winner of the PEN/Winship prize) and Johannes Brahms: A Biography from Knopf. Currently, Swafford is writing a biography of Beethoven for Houghton Mifflin.
Swafford's music has been played around the country and abroad by ensembles including the symphonies of Indianapolis, St. Louis, Harrisburg, Springfield, Jacksonville, Chattanooga and the Dutch Radio. Among his honors are a National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) Composers Grant and two Massachusetts Artists Council Fellowships. His work appears on CRI recordings and is published by Peer Southern. From 1999-2002, he was Composer-in-Residence of Market Square Concerts in Harrisburg.
Swafford holds degrees in music from Harvard and Yale. His teachers have included Jacob Druckman, Earl Kim and, at Tanglewood, Betsy Jolas. From 1988-1989 he was a Mellon Faculty Fellow at Harvard. Swafford currently teaches music history, theory and composition at The Boston Conservatory.
As a musical journalist and scholar, Swafford has appeared in Slate, Guardian International, Gramophone, Symphony and 19th-Century Music. He has written program notes for the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), the Chicago and San Francisco Symphonies, Chamber Music at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall programs and Naxos and Sony Classical Recordings. Since 1998, he has participated in musical features on Nation Public Radio (NPR's) Performance Today and Morning Edition, and he is a regular preconcert lecturer for the BSO. His books include The Vintage Guide to Classical Music and the biographies, Charles Ives: A Life with Music from Norton (nominated for a National Book Critics Circle award, winner of the PEN/Winship prize) and Johannes Brahms: A Biography from Knopf. Currently, Swafford is writing a biography of Beethoven for Houghton Mifflin.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
January 19, 2024
Jan Swafford's Biography Of Brahms
I read Jan Swafford's monumental 1997 biography of Johannes Brahms (1833 --1897) after reading his biography of the American composer Charles Ives and after reading the 1991 biography of Brahms by Malcolm MacDonald. Swafford has written an outstanding biography of Brahms and a through, perceptive consideration of his music. But greater than either of these accomplishments, his book brings Brahms and late nineteenth century Vienna to life. Swafford has given a great deal of thought to Brahms, and his book helped me think about the nature of creative gifts, about the relationship between love and calling, and about many matters that are much broader than either biography or music.
Swafford gives a great deal of attention to two formative experiences of young Brahms: 1. his childhood of poverty in Hamburg where he played as a pre-adolescent in dives frequented by prostitutes and sailors (this account has been questioned by some writers) and 2. Robert Schumann's article about Brahms at the age of 20, heralding the young man as the heir to Beethoven and predicting a brilliant future for him.
Swafford's book emphasizes Brahms' difficulties throughout life in forming a lasting, sexual relationship with a woman other than prostitutes. Brahms exhibited to sort of behavior towards women frequently described in terms of "The Virgin and the Whore". Brahms could only be physically intimate with women he did not respect. Thus, Brahms ultimately rejected the romantic opportunities that came his way in the persons of Clara Schumann and Agathe von Siebold, among other women. He withdrew into a protective shell when friendships with women threatened to become romantic. Yet women were the greatest source of inspiration to Brahms as a composer. He poured into his music what he denied himself as a man. A crusty figure, Brahms was difficult to know intimately, particularly by women.
The article by Robert Schumann made Brahms famous from the age of twenty before he had done much. Great things were expected of Brahms, but Schumann's praise burdened the fledgling composer with the fear that he would disappoint Schumann's hopes in him. Brahms worked slowly and became an astonishing musical craftsman; but he felt he had to justify Schumann's confidence as well as meet the standards of the great composers of the past, especially Beethoven.
There is a wealth of discussion in this book of Brahms' relationships with both Clara and Robert Schumann, their daughter Julie, the violinist Joachim, the critic Hanslick, Liszt, Wagner, Bruckner, Mahler, and many others. The book is set in the last years of liberal Vienna, and Swafford poignantly draws the relationship between Brahms's music and the rise of the irrationality, anti-Semitism, and violence that would soon plague the Twentieth Century.
I found Swafford's discussions of Brahms' music highly insightful. It is less detailed, perhaps, than Malcolm MacMacDonald's study which discusses virtually every work of Brahms; but there is ample material here to form a basis for an exploration and appreciation of Brahms' works. Brahms' romanticism and his musical formalism and learning are well-explored and tied in with a consideration of his major compositions. Swafford's most thorough musical discussions are of the four symphonies, and he tends to move quicker over Brahms's songs. (This was also the case in Swafford's book on Ives.)
I felt I got to know Brahms, in spite of himself, in this book. Brahms devoted himself wholeheartedly to his art, and in the process lost a great deal of the value of human love and human sexual closeness. It was and remains a difficult exchange. More than encouraging the reader to get to know and love Brahms's music, Swafford's biography will help the reader think about and try to compassionately understand people.
Robin Friedman
I read Jan Swafford's monumental 1997 biography of Johannes Brahms (1833 --1897) after reading his biography of the American composer Charles Ives and after reading the 1991 biography of Brahms by Malcolm MacDonald. Swafford has written an outstanding biography of Brahms and a through, perceptive consideration of his music. But greater than either of these accomplishments, his book brings Brahms and late nineteenth century Vienna to life. Swafford has given a great deal of thought to Brahms, and his book helped me think about the nature of creative gifts, about the relationship between love and calling, and about many matters that are much broader than either biography or music.
Swafford gives a great deal of attention to two formative experiences of young Brahms: 1. his childhood of poverty in Hamburg where he played as a pre-adolescent in dives frequented by prostitutes and sailors (this account has been questioned by some writers) and 2. Robert Schumann's article about Brahms at the age of 20, heralding the young man as the heir to Beethoven and predicting a brilliant future for him.
Swafford's book emphasizes Brahms' difficulties throughout life in forming a lasting, sexual relationship with a woman other than prostitutes. Brahms exhibited to sort of behavior towards women frequently described in terms of "The Virgin and the Whore". Brahms could only be physically intimate with women he did not respect. Thus, Brahms ultimately rejected the romantic opportunities that came his way in the persons of Clara Schumann and Agathe von Siebold, among other women. He withdrew into a protective shell when friendships with women threatened to become romantic. Yet women were the greatest source of inspiration to Brahms as a composer. He poured into his music what he denied himself as a man. A crusty figure, Brahms was difficult to know intimately, particularly by women.
The article by Robert Schumann made Brahms famous from the age of twenty before he had done much. Great things were expected of Brahms, but Schumann's praise burdened the fledgling composer with the fear that he would disappoint Schumann's hopes in him. Brahms worked slowly and became an astonishing musical craftsman; but he felt he had to justify Schumann's confidence as well as meet the standards of the great composers of the past, especially Beethoven.
There is a wealth of discussion in this book of Brahms' relationships with both Clara and Robert Schumann, their daughter Julie, the violinist Joachim, the critic Hanslick, Liszt, Wagner, Bruckner, Mahler, and many others. The book is set in the last years of liberal Vienna, and Swafford poignantly draws the relationship between Brahms's music and the rise of the irrationality, anti-Semitism, and violence that would soon plague the Twentieth Century.
I found Swafford's discussions of Brahms' music highly insightful. It is less detailed, perhaps, than Malcolm MacMacDonald's study which discusses virtually every work of Brahms; but there is ample material here to form a basis for an exploration and appreciation of Brahms' works. Brahms' romanticism and his musical formalism and learning are well-explored and tied in with a consideration of his major compositions. Swafford's most thorough musical discussions are of the four symphonies, and he tends to move quicker over Brahms's songs. (This was also the case in Swafford's book on Ives.)
I felt I got to know Brahms, in spite of himself, in this book. Brahms devoted himself wholeheartedly to his art, and in the process lost a great deal of the value of human love and human sexual closeness. It was and remains a difficult exchange. More than encouraging the reader to get to know and love Brahms's music, Swafford's biography will help the reader think about and try to compassionately understand people.
Robin Friedman
May 4, 2017
I found this a very well researched and readable biography of one of the greatest composers of his generation and the last of the 3 B’s of classical music – Johannes Brahms. Mr Swafford looks a Brahms’ life from his childhood in Hamburg through to his death in Vienna. In telling his story, the author looks at his loves, rivalries, his penchant for brutal honesty and even his agnosticism. His the preface, the author states that writing a biography of Brahms is more difficult than some of the others he has written because Brahms did everything in his power to destroy the raw material of a biographer. He destroyed all the letters he had in his possession and any others that he sent that he could convince the recipients to return, all of his working material for his compositions, and much of his early work that he considered not up to his standards. In spite of these handicaps, I found this an excellent look at man, his methods and his legacy.
The son of a horn player, Brahms started in the music business early. He played piano in the cabarets/brothels of the port of Hamburg as a preteen. The author give credence to the stories that he was molested by the ladies employed by those establishments and speculates that this might have been the basis of his not being able to form a lasting romantic relationship. That said, Mr. Swafford does look at the ladies that had influence his life. The most important being the wife/widow of his patron Robert Schumann, Clara.
In telling the story of their life long relationship the author speculates that their love never became physical, and in spite of that Clara was the love of his life. Even after the romantic aspect faded, they maintained a strong friendship ‘til her death. Along with her husband she was one of his earliest and most ardent backers. The author makes the point that he was the rock she could rely on as her husband descended into madness and an early death. Clara was a renowned pianist in her own right and often premiered his compositions and built her repertoire around them. In addition to Clara, the author speculates on the other romantic interests in his life and his inability to move from a respectable “courtship” to marriage. That is not to say he was gay – he apparently was a regular patron of the ladies of the evening in what ever town he happened to be living.
Mr. Swafford also looks at his rivalry with the other two masters of the time – Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner. The author states that Brahms was a devotee of the classical school of Beethoven, Bach and Mozart and detested the "New German School" of Liszt, Wagner and there devotees. That said he apparently was on good personal terms with them.
One other aspect of Brahms that Mr. Swafford explores is his irascibility. To say he was blunt in his dealing with others is to put it kindly. He would not humor people. If someone asked his opinion on their composition or playing ability, friend or not, he would tell them exactly what he thought. This led to much tension in his inner circle. Even with this, many of his inner circle remained lifelong friends.
In addition to telling Brahms’ life story, the author looks at his music, how it is constructed, and even includes snipits of scores. While I enjoy classical music, much of this was way over my head. That said, I did not find it too distracting from the rest of the narrative and I even learned interesting tidbits that I think will improve my enjoyment of the music
All in all this is an excellent look a one of the giants of classical music and well worth the time to read. I rate this a solid 4 stars for Goodreads.
The son of a horn player, Brahms started in the music business early. He played piano in the cabarets/brothels of the port of Hamburg as a preteen. The author give credence to the stories that he was molested by the ladies employed by those establishments and speculates that this might have been the basis of his not being able to form a lasting romantic relationship. That said, Mr. Swafford does look at the ladies that had influence his life. The most important being the wife/widow of his patron Robert Schumann, Clara.
In telling the story of their life long relationship the author speculates that their love never became physical, and in spite of that Clara was the love of his life. Even after the romantic aspect faded, they maintained a strong friendship ‘til her death. Along with her husband she was one of his earliest and most ardent backers. The author makes the point that he was the rock she could rely on as her husband descended into madness and an early death. Clara was a renowned pianist in her own right and often premiered his compositions and built her repertoire around them. In addition to Clara, the author speculates on the other romantic interests in his life and his inability to move from a respectable “courtship” to marriage. That is not to say he was gay – he apparently was a regular patron of the ladies of the evening in what ever town he happened to be living.
Mr. Swafford also looks at his rivalry with the other two masters of the time – Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner. The author states that Brahms was a devotee of the classical school of Beethoven, Bach and Mozart and detested the "New German School" of Liszt, Wagner and there devotees. That said he apparently was on good personal terms with them.
One other aspect of Brahms that Mr. Swafford explores is his irascibility. To say he was blunt in his dealing with others is to put it kindly. He would not humor people. If someone asked his opinion on their composition or playing ability, friend or not, he would tell them exactly what he thought. This led to much tension in his inner circle. Even with this, many of his inner circle remained lifelong friends.
In addition to telling Brahms’ life story, the author looks at his music, how it is constructed, and even includes snipits of scores. While I enjoy classical music, much of this was way over my head. That said, I did not find it too distracting from the rest of the narrative and I even learned interesting tidbits that I think will improve my enjoyment of the music
All in all this is an excellent look a one of the giants of classical music and well worth the time to read. I rate this a solid 4 stars for Goodreads.
May 3, 2020
Schroder: I like Beethoven. But Brahms makes me glad I'm alive. I think I'll go home and listen to Brahms' Fourth. I have the need to have the feeling that it's good to be alive.
Charlie Brown: I know what you mean. That's a terrible feeling to have the need of having the feeling of having...
Charles M. Schulz: Peanuts
Swafford combines the skills of a biographer, musician and historian to provide a vivid portrait of Johannes Brahms, his music, the people he knew and the world in which they lived. Highly recommended, especially for those who, like Schroder and me, have an affinity for this composer and the occasional need to have the feeling that it’s good to be alive.
Charlie Brown: I know what you mean. That's a terrible feeling to have the need of having the feeling of having...
Charles M. Schulz: Peanuts
Swafford combines the skills of a biographer, musician and historian to provide a vivid portrait of Johannes Brahms, his music, the people he knew and the world in which they lived. Highly recommended, especially for those who, like Schroder and me, have an affinity for this composer and the occasional need to have the feeling that it’s good to be alive.
January 10, 2019
Johannes Brahms is one of the greatest composers of all time. He wrote 4 beautiful symphonies, all of which I have listened to and loved. My favorite piece by Brahms would probably be the Piano Quintet in F minor, because it is very dramatic. The fiery elegance of the piece will take your breath away.
December 31, 2018
It took me 5 months to read this book. It's not that I didn't like it; I just needed to take a break once in awhile and read lighter fare. I would get bogged down in the technical descriptions. I'm not unfamiliar with classical music. I took cello lessons for 10 years and played in my school and college orchestras. But not being a music major I never took any musical theory classes. And there are a lot of things written in this book that only a trained musician could understand. I read every word but I can't say I really comprehended the technical parts.
Reading this book was a multi media experience for me. I own a few Brahm's CD's but my brother is a an avid vinyl and CD collector; as I read about a piece I would ask him for a copy to hear and he was able to oblige every time. Sometimes with two versions. It was a wonderful way to enjoy this biography.
Reading this book was a multi media experience for me. I own a few Brahm's CD's but my brother is a an avid vinyl and CD collector; as I read about a piece I would ask him for a copy to hear and he was able to oblige every time. Sometimes with two versions. It was a wonderful way to enjoy this biography.
December 2, 2020
Saya mesti akui kalau individu artis musik era klasik itu kerap kali sukar untuk dimengerti, diteliti, pun dipelajari. Karena saya menyukai musik-musik gubahan Ludwig von Beethoven, lantas rasa penasaran akan genre satu ini dan jenis-jenis komposisi lain yang masih berada di bawah satu payung yang sama, menuntun saya untuk bertemu dengan Johannes Brahms. Pengalaman saya mendengarkan sejumlah repertoar karya Brahms lewat penampilan panggung orkestra lokal di Indonesia, membuat saya semakin ingin mengetahui dari dekat detail perjalanan karir beliau. Dan buku biografi musik eksklusif ini adalah jendela untuk saya bisa melongok, mengobservasi, dan mengkaribkan diri dengan sosok mendiang inspirasional nan historis ini.
Kelar menamatkan bacaan tebal saya ini, ada satu benang merah yang bisa saya tarik dari kehidupan seorang Brahms dengan mayoritas penggiat seni pada umumnya, yaitu bahwa kebanyakan mereka sepertinya mengantongi perangai yang rada misantropik. Tak terkecuali juga penata musik aristokrat kita yang satu ini. Ia adalah karakter aditokoh yang soliter, tertutup, bahkan cenderung antisosial.
Kepencilan dan kesendirian nampaknya menjadi dua elemen tak terpisahkan dari kehidupan pribadi setiap seniman kapan pun eranya, dan apa pun bidangnya. Tak terkecuali di Jerman pada tahun 1800an di mana Brahms tinggal. Di masa lampau, ketika musik belum berkembang sepesat dan secanggih sekarang, tak terbilang banyaknya komposer jenius yang berlomba-lomba menginovasi dan mengeksplorasi teknik, bunyi, dan teori musikalitas untuk menciptakan jenis komposisi baru. Mengukirkan nama mereka di atas batu kenisbian tonggak sejarah.
Di zaman itu, Brahms termasuk salah satu figur yang mempelopori dimulainya masa Romantik, sebutan yang rakyat setempat sematkan untuk menamai aliran musik yang diusung dan diprakarsai kemunculannya oleh beliau. Mengingat seni kala itu bukan hanya menjadi komoditas hiburan receh dan murahan yang bisa dinikmati oleh semua kalangan manusia, maka tak heran status yang mulia disandingkan pada diri para komponis seperti Mozart, Beethoven, juga Brahms.
Semenjak itu, segala aspek kehidupan pribadi Brahms pun tak luput dari sorotan publik. Mungkin itu sebabnya, ia jadi memilih untuk bersikap reklusif kepada setiap orang yang mencoba mendekat dan mengenalnya lebih intim dan personal. Sinyalemen saya, Brahms justru tak nyaman dengan semua perhatian berlebihan yang dicurahkan pada dirinya tersebut. Ketika seorang musisi tak lagi bisa menjadi dirinya sendiri, dan harus menyandang status bak selebriti, atau untuk kasus Brahms, bahkan mendapat julukan Mesias padahal jelas ia bukan Tuhan, tentunya bisa sangat menyebalkan.
Berikutnya, Jan Swafford, penulis buku ini, juga tak luput untuk memasukkan beragam analisa kritisnya atas aransemen-aransemen hit milik Brahms, termasuk di antaranya adalah aransemen musik untuk piano, ansambel musik kamar, orkestra simfoni, serta komposisi untuk penyanyi dan paduan suara. Eksplanasinya mengenai hal ini sungguh ciamik. Ia mampu menyajikan paparan yang cukup terperinci dan kompleks dengan runtut, rapi, dan mudah dipahami. Meski cukup banyak jargon-jargon teknis musik yang ia pakai dalam penjelasannya, akan tetapi segalanya terasa sangat gampang dan bersahabat untuk dicerna. Belum lagi, bagan-bagan notasi balok yang ia lampirkan menyertai teks uraian analisisnya yang seperti tengah berkisah. Melekapkan kita pada figur Brahms secara lebih membumi, manusiawi, dan jauh dari impresi mengintimidasi.
Swafford acap menjejalkan pengumpamaan metaforis pula personifikasi, mengiaskan alunan harmoni musik Brahms, mencitrakan ragam falsafah abstrak karyanya yang sukses membuat saya berdecak kagum. Saya sanggup merasakan nuansa musik-musik Brahms yang, saat itu, bahkan belum pernah sekali pun melintas ke telinga dengan lumayan nyata. Torehan rangkaian aksara dari tangan seorang Swafford hidup, memaujudkan mereka secara riil dalam dimensi pikiran dan perasaan di diri saya. Lewat susunan tulisan beliau, deretan not balok itu bukan lagi hanya sekadar konsep abstraksi belaka di atas kertas saja, dingin dan kaku.
Di samping itu, seperti halnya sebuah biografi normal pada umumnya, buku ini juga membahas puspawarna aspek lain dari kehidupan personal Brahms. Di antaranya yaitu bagaimana Brahms tak suka sama sekali dengan gerakan aliran musik Jerman baru yang dipopulerkan oleh musikus-musikus macam Richard Wagner dan Frans Liszt, meski tak lantas memusuhi mereka semua. Juga Brahms yang sangat respek terhadap Beethoven dan menganggap dia sebagai mentor. Untuk mengingat dan menghargai Beethoven, ia bahkan memposisikan satu patung sedada dari beliau menghadap persis ke arah piano tempatnya biasa berproses kreatif membikin aransemen musik, supaya ia kian terlecut serta berkobar penuh gairah dalam berkarya.
Fakta-fakta lainnya yang tak kalah menarik misalnya adalah pendekatan Brahms pada musik yang kelewat perfeksionis. Sejarawan musik kita, Swafford, menuturkan bahwa saking terobsesinya Brahms dengan kesempurnaan suatu komposisi musik, ia bahkan tak ragu sedikit pun merobek serta membakar perkamen penuh notasi yang sudah dianggap jadi. Bila ada satu saja not yang dinilainya tak cocok dalam konsep dan konteks musik yang ingin direalisasikannya, Brahms anggap itu aransemen sampah. Tak patut dipertunjukkan di depan publik. Penonton layak mendapat yang terbaik dari dirinya. Itu saja yang terbesit di benaknya.
Favoritisme yang lumayan fanatik terhadap Mozart. Kebiasaan Brahms membaca karya sastra yang hanya menarik interesnya saja, berulang kali, karena ia tak senang menimbun buku untuk kemudian tidak dibaca dan dibiarkan mubazir serta menguning. Diri Brahms yang rupanya agnostik dan tak punya teman dekat sampai ia wafat. Brahms yang geram dan menilai kegiatan merekam jejak langkahnya dalam sebuah biografi adalah kejahatan. Bahkan ia sanggup membakar dan menghancurkan semua naskah tulisan tentang dirinya jika ia menemukannya. Ia yakin masa keemasannya hadir hanya selama dirinya masih hidup saja. Tak perlu ada yang mengenal dirinya di luar waktu tersebut. Bilamana ia harus lenyap tak berbekas tatkala tutup usia nanti, maka biarlah terjadi demikian. Persetan dengan keabadian. Hanya lewat musik ia berkomunikasi memperkenalkan diri pada para penggemar yang tinggal sezaman dengannya, dan juga dunia sekitarnya. Udara dan indera pendengaran adalah sarana ekspresif, penyalur kedaulatan dirinya sebagai musikus. Itu semua adalah segelintir aspek lainnya yang turut membentuk sosok keakuan diri Brahms. Seluruh faktor itu menjadi pembeda, membuatnya unik dibandingkan komposer lain, dan dapat langsung kita identifikasi sebagai Brahms, laiknya Beethoven dengan ketuliannya.
Selain daripada itu, dari sekian aspek kehidupan sang maestro, tentunya saya juga penasaran dengan kisah romansa Brahms. Karena biasanya seorang seniman mempunyai sumber inspirasi yang memotivasi mereka untuk terus berkarya sampai mati, saya pun ingin mengetahui apa atau siapa sosok yang ditempatkan Brahms di atas podium kehormatan itu. Dan buku ini pun mengupas tuntas persoalan yang krusial ini, dalam porsi yang cukup tebal dan mendominasi hampir separuh dari isi biografi ini.
Adalah seorang bernama Clara Schumann, wanita yang memikat hati Brahms dan menjadi asal daya cipta dan kreativitas nomor satu, yang cukup dominan, dan mungkin juga terbesar selama ia berkecimpung di dunia seni musik klasik. Tidak kurang dari sekitar 4 dekade lamanya, hubungan romantis di antara keduanya terjalin. Selama Clara ada di sisi Brahms, dikisahkan di sana, Brahms membuncah penuh semangat dan energi menggubah banyak sekali musik bagus. Energi cinta ini begitu kuat sehingga banyak sekali mahakarya Brahms di masa ini muncul dengan lirik-lirik yang beraura optimistis. Beberapa aransemen instrumentalianya, tak terkecuali, juga mengalami perubahan bentuk sebagai dampak dari eksplorasi ritme dan harmoni yang lebih berani. Pada saat bersamaan melihat ke depan dan ke belakang, terang Swafford.
Namun, keromantisan itu bukan tanpa halangan. Berkebalikkan dengan musik romantik yang dikarangnya, menurut Swafford, Brahms justru adalah orang yang mengalami kesulitan menjalin relasi asmara dengan para wanita. Dalam kaitannya mengenai hubungan Clara dan Brahms, Swafford mengatakan, meski hal itu sudah berlangsung sekian puluh tahun, tak pernah ada tanda-tanda mereka pernah bercinta atau pun bertualang ke arah realitas keintiman fisik. Perjalanan asmaranya dengan Clara dipenuhi dengan permainan tarik-ulur ajek yang tak menimbulkan kemajuan berarti, seperti musiknya yang kaya ambiguitas, sulit diterima kalangan penonton kala itu. Ia menambahkan bahwa Brahms memang kelihatannya merupakan tipikal pria yang takut berkomitmen serius. Brahms, menurut perspektifnya, lebih bisa melakukan persetubuhan atau melampiaskan segala bentuk ekspresi hasrat berahi jika itu tidak melibatkan keterikatan emosi mendalam.
Maka dari itu, Swafford mencatat juga bahwa Brahms lebih nyaman bercumbu dengan para pelacur atau kupu -kupu malam ketimbang wanita-wanita yang berkelas, sederajat, atau seprofesi dengannya seperti Clara. Dengan kata lain, secara implisit, Brahms ternyata tak mau terikat pernikahan yang dinilai ribet dan tak bebas, hanya membebani dirinya saja. Dalam sudut pandangnya, ia beranggapan jika hobi main perempuan jauh lebih praktis kalau tujuannya hanya membebaskan diri dari belenggu berahi semata. Oleh karenanya, daripada harus bersatu dengan wanita tunggal, bertahun-tahun lamanya, untuk kemudian membantunya mengurusi tetek-bengek kerumitan perkara rumah tangga yang tak ada habisnya, Brahms bersikukuh pada pendiriannya untuk tetap melajang. Pilihan ini memang jauh lebih mudah untuk seorang musisi keliling yang kerap berkelana ke berbagai pentas di mancanegara.
Tak hanya sampai di situ saja, untuk lebih mendongkrak naik level kesimpatikannya pada topik yang menjadi pembahasannya di buku ini, Swafford juga tak lupa melampirkan "dokumen-dokumen" pendukung. Kemesraan yang terpancar dari surat-surat cinta yang dikirimkan oleh Brahms kepada kekasihnya, Clara, memperlihatkan sisi kehangatan insani sang maestro. Akan tetapi, di sisi yang lain, balasan-balasan akan surat itu, dituliskan oleh Clara, secara implisit juga mempertunjukkan sifat egosentris, kelabilan, dan ketidakdewasaan Brahms dalam menyikapi sebuah hubungan romansa. Brahms yang dibutakan oleh nafsu eros, menggebu dalam menyampaikan suara hatinya pada Clara lewat rangkaian suratnya, tak mampu memahami baik posisi Clara yang adalah seorang ibu dengan kewajibannya menafkahi anak-anak yang berada dalam naungannya.
Jatuh hati pada wanita berumur lebih tua darinya, tak menyurutkan api semangat di diri Brahms untuk terus senantiasa berusaha berada di dekat Clara. Tetap hadir menyediakan bahunya, tatkala sang belahan jiwa membutuhkan seorang kawan untuk melepas keluh kesah, menumpahkan segenap kegelisahan dan kegetiran yang menyelimuti batin. Kendati pun demikian, sayang sekali takdir berkehendak lain. Ia sudah menggariskan pun menentukan untuk Clara pasti harus menderita penyakit kelainan syaraf yang melumpuhkan jari jemarinya. Akibatnya, ia tak lagi sanggup memainkan tuts-tuts piano, dan mesti pensiun dini dari karir profesionalnya sebagai seorang virtuoso juga komponis musik yang cukup dinanti oleh para penyokongnya kala itu. Sepeninggal Clara, Brahms begitu terpukul. Ada satu kesengsaraan dan kepedihan yang mendalam tinggal bersemayam. Bak sungai yang mengering tak ada lagi airnya, produktivitas Brahms untuk menghasilkan nada-nada indah penuh inspirasi dan orisinalitas seolah mandek. Kepergian Clara sang inspirator utama adalah pemicunya.
Di penghujung kata, saya bisa bilang buku ini telah sukses luar biasa dalam menunaikan fungsi pokok dan terdepannya sebagai sebuah biografi musik definitif Brahms. Ia menginterpretasi dan mengelaborasikan kenangan akan hidup tokoh berpengaruh di buana musik klasik bernama Johannes Brahms dengan ulasan yang padat, berbobot, hangat, serta amikal. Buku ini sangat tepat dibaca teruntuk mereka yang ingin memperoleh penghayatan yang komplit, lekat, sekaligus tajam atas musik-musik klasik aliran Romantik, khususnya yang ditulis oleh Brahms. Bravo Jan Swafford!
Kelar menamatkan bacaan tebal saya ini, ada satu benang merah yang bisa saya tarik dari kehidupan seorang Brahms dengan mayoritas penggiat seni pada umumnya, yaitu bahwa kebanyakan mereka sepertinya mengantongi perangai yang rada misantropik. Tak terkecuali juga penata musik aristokrat kita yang satu ini. Ia adalah karakter aditokoh yang soliter, tertutup, bahkan cenderung antisosial.
Kepencilan dan kesendirian nampaknya menjadi dua elemen tak terpisahkan dari kehidupan pribadi setiap seniman kapan pun eranya, dan apa pun bidangnya. Tak terkecuali di Jerman pada tahun 1800an di mana Brahms tinggal. Di masa lampau, ketika musik belum berkembang sepesat dan secanggih sekarang, tak terbilang banyaknya komposer jenius yang berlomba-lomba menginovasi dan mengeksplorasi teknik, bunyi, dan teori musikalitas untuk menciptakan jenis komposisi baru. Mengukirkan nama mereka di atas batu kenisbian tonggak sejarah.
Di zaman itu, Brahms termasuk salah satu figur yang mempelopori dimulainya masa Romantik, sebutan yang rakyat setempat sematkan untuk menamai aliran musik yang diusung dan diprakarsai kemunculannya oleh beliau. Mengingat seni kala itu bukan hanya menjadi komoditas hiburan receh dan murahan yang bisa dinikmati oleh semua kalangan manusia, maka tak heran status yang mulia disandingkan pada diri para komponis seperti Mozart, Beethoven, juga Brahms.
Semenjak itu, segala aspek kehidupan pribadi Brahms pun tak luput dari sorotan publik. Mungkin itu sebabnya, ia jadi memilih untuk bersikap reklusif kepada setiap orang yang mencoba mendekat dan mengenalnya lebih intim dan personal. Sinyalemen saya, Brahms justru tak nyaman dengan semua perhatian berlebihan yang dicurahkan pada dirinya tersebut. Ketika seorang musisi tak lagi bisa menjadi dirinya sendiri, dan harus menyandang status bak selebriti, atau untuk kasus Brahms, bahkan mendapat julukan Mesias padahal jelas ia bukan Tuhan, tentunya bisa sangat menyebalkan.
Berikutnya, Jan Swafford, penulis buku ini, juga tak luput untuk memasukkan beragam analisa kritisnya atas aransemen-aransemen hit milik Brahms, termasuk di antaranya adalah aransemen musik untuk piano, ansambel musik kamar, orkestra simfoni, serta komposisi untuk penyanyi dan paduan suara. Eksplanasinya mengenai hal ini sungguh ciamik. Ia mampu menyajikan paparan yang cukup terperinci dan kompleks dengan runtut, rapi, dan mudah dipahami. Meski cukup banyak jargon-jargon teknis musik yang ia pakai dalam penjelasannya, akan tetapi segalanya terasa sangat gampang dan bersahabat untuk dicerna. Belum lagi, bagan-bagan notasi balok yang ia lampirkan menyertai teks uraian analisisnya yang seperti tengah berkisah. Melekapkan kita pada figur Brahms secara lebih membumi, manusiawi, dan jauh dari impresi mengintimidasi.
Swafford acap menjejalkan pengumpamaan metaforis pula personifikasi, mengiaskan alunan harmoni musik Brahms, mencitrakan ragam falsafah abstrak karyanya yang sukses membuat saya berdecak kagum. Saya sanggup merasakan nuansa musik-musik Brahms yang, saat itu, bahkan belum pernah sekali pun melintas ke telinga dengan lumayan nyata. Torehan rangkaian aksara dari tangan seorang Swafford hidup, memaujudkan mereka secara riil dalam dimensi pikiran dan perasaan di diri saya. Lewat susunan tulisan beliau, deretan not balok itu bukan lagi hanya sekadar konsep abstraksi belaka di atas kertas saja, dingin dan kaku.
Di samping itu, seperti halnya sebuah biografi normal pada umumnya, buku ini juga membahas puspawarna aspek lain dari kehidupan personal Brahms. Di antaranya yaitu bagaimana Brahms tak suka sama sekali dengan gerakan aliran musik Jerman baru yang dipopulerkan oleh musikus-musikus macam Richard Wagner dan Frans Liszt, meski tak lantas memusuhi mereka semua. Juga Brahms yang sangat respek terhadap Beethoven dan menganggap dia sebagai mentor. Untuk mengingat dan menghargai Beethoven, ia bahkan memposisikan satu patung sedada dari beliau menghadap persis ke arah piano tempatnya biasa berproses kreatif membikin aransemen musik, supaya ia kian terlecut serta berkobar penuh gairah dalam berkarya.
Fakta-fakta lainnya yang tak kalah menarik misalnya adalah pendekatan Brahms pada musik yang kelewat perfeksionis. Sejarawan musik kita, Swafford, menuturkan bahwa saking terobsesinya Brahms dengan kesempurnaan suatu komposisi musik, ia bahkan tak ragu sedikit pun merobek serta membakar perkamen penuh notasi yang sudah dianggap jadi. Bila ada satu saja not yang dinilainya tak cocok dalam konsep dan konteks musik yang ingin direalisasikannya, Brahms anggap itu aransemen sampah. Tak patut dipertunjukkan di depan publik. Penonton layak mendapat yang terbaik dari dirinya. Itu saja yang terbesit di benaknya.
Favoritisme yang lumayan fanatik terhadap Mozart. Kebiasaan Brahms membaca karya sastra yang hanya menarik interesnya saja, berulang kali, karena ia tak senang menimbun buku untuk kemudian tidak dibaca dan dibiarkan mubazir serta menguning. Diri Brahms yang rupanya agnostik dan tak punya teman dekat sampai ia wafat. Brahms yang geram dan menilai kegiatan merekam jejak langkahnya dalam sebuah biografi adalah kejahatan. Bahkan ia sanggup membakar dan menghancurkan semua naskah tulisan tentang dirinya jika ia menemukannya. Ia yakin masa keemasannya hadir hanya selama dirinya masih hidup saja. Tak perlu ada yang mengenal dirinya di luar waktu tersebut. Bilamana ia harus lenyap tak berbekas tatkala tutup usia nanti, maka biarlah terjadi demikian. Persetan dengan keabadian. Hanya lewat musik ia berkomunikasi memperkenalkan diri pada para penggemar yang tinggal sezaman dengannya, dan juga dunia sekitarnya. Udara dan indera pendengaran adalah sarana ekspresif, penyalur kedaulatan dirinya sebagai musikus. Itu semua adalah segelintir aspek lainnya yang turut membentuk sosok keakuan diri Brahms. Seluruh faktor itu menjadi pembeda, membuatnya unik dibandingkan komposer lain, dan dapat langsung kita identifikasi sebagai Brahms, laiknya Beethoven dengan ketuliannya.
Selain daripada itu, dari sekian aspek kehidupan sang maestro, tentunya saya juga penasaran dengan kisah romansa Brahms. Karena biasanya seorang seniman mempunyai sumber inspirasi yang memotivasi mereka untuk terus berkarya sampai mati, saya pun ingin mengetahui apa atau siapa sosok yang ditempatkan Brahms di atas podium kehormatan itu. Dan buku ini pun mengupas tuntas persoalan yang krusial ini, dalam porsi yang cukup tebal dan mendominasi hampir separuh dari isi biografi ini.
Adalah seorang bernama Clara Schumann, wanita yang memikat hati Brahms dan menjadi asal daya cipta dan kreativitas nomor satu, yang cukup dominan, dan mungkin juga terbesar selama ia berkecimpung di dunia seni musik klasik. Tidak kurang dari sekitar 4 dekade lamanya, hubungan romantis di antara keduanya terjalin. Selama Clara ada di sisi Brahms, dikisahkan di sana, Brahms membuncah penuh semangat dan energi menggubah banyak sekali musik bagus. Energi cinta ini begitu kuat sehingga banyak sekali mahakarya Brahms di masa ini muncul dengan lirik-lirik yang beraura optimistis. Beberapa aransemen instrumentalianya, tak terkecuali, juga mengalami perubahan bentuk sebagai dampak dari eksplorasi ritme dan harmoni yang lebih berani. Pada saat bersamaan melihat ke depan dan ke belakang, terang Swafford.
Namun, keromantisan itu bukan tanpa halangan. Berkebalikkan dengan musik romantik yang dikarangnya, menurut Swafford, Brahms justru adalah orang yang mengalami kesulitan menjalin relasi asmara dengan para wanita. Dalam kaitannya mengenai hubungan Clara dan Brahms, Swafford mengatakan, meski hal itu sudah berlangsung sekian puluh tahun, tak pernah ada tanda-tanda mereka pernah bercinta atau pun bertualang ke arah realitas keintiman fisik. Perjalanan asmaranya dengan Clara dipenuhi dengan permainan tarik-ulur ajek yang tak menimbulkan kemajuan berarti, seperti musiknya yang kaya ambiguitas, sulit diterima kalangan penonton kala itu. Ia menambahkan bahwa Brahms memang kelihatannya merupakan tipikal pria yang takut berkomitmen serius. Brahms, menurut perspektifnya, lebih bisa melakukan persetubuhan atau melampiaskan segala bentuk ekspresi hasrat berahi jika itu tidak melibatkan keterikatan emosi mendalam.
Maka dari itu, Swafford mencatat juga bahwa Brahms lebih nyaman bercumbu dengan para pelacur atau kupu -kupu malam ketimbang wanita-wanita yang berkelas, sederajat, atau seprofesi dengannya seperti Clara. Dengan kata lain, secara implisit, Brahms ternyata tak mau terikat pernikahan yang dinilai ribet dan tak bebas, hanya membebani dirinya saja. Dalam sudut pandangnya, ia beranggapan jika hobi main perempuan jauh lebih praktis kalau tujuannya hanya membebaskan diri dari belenggu berahi semata. Oleh karenanya, daripada harus bersatu dengan wanita tunggal, bertahun-tahun lamanya, untuk kemudian membantunya mengurusi tetek-bengek kerumitan perkara rumah tangga yang tak ada habisnya, Brahms bersikukuh pada pendiriannya untuk tetap melajang. Pilihan ini memang jauh lebih mudah untuk seorang musisi keliling yang kerap berkelana ke berbagai pentas di mancanegara.
Tak hanya sampai di situ saja, untuk lebih mendongkrak naik level kesimpatikannya pada topik yang menjadi pembahasannya di buku ini, Swafford juga tak lupa melampirkan "dokumen-dokumen" pendukung. Kemesraan yang terpancar dari surat-surat cinta yang dikirimkan oleh Brahms kepada kekasihnya, Clara, memperlihatkan sisi kehangatan insani sang maestro. Akan tetapi, di sisi yang lain, balasan-balasan akan surat itu, dituliskan oleh Clara, secara implisit juga mempertunjukkan sifat egosentris, kelabilan, dan ketidakdewasaan Brahms dalam menyikapi sebuah hubungan romansa. Brahms yang dibutakan oleh nafsu eros, menggebu dalam menyampaikan suara hatinya pada Clara lewat rangkaian suratnya, tak mampu memahami baik posisi Clara yang adalah seorang ibu dengan kewajibannya menafkahi anak-anak yang berada dalam naungannya.
Jatuh hati pada wanita berumur lebih tua darinya, tak menyurutkan api semangat di diri Brahms untuk terus senantiasa berusaha berada di dekat Clara. Tetap hadir menyediakan bahunya, tatkala sang belahan jiwa membutuhkan seorang kawan untuk melepas keluh kesah, menumpahkan segenap kegelisahan dan kegetiran yang menyelimuti batin. Kendati pun demikian, sayang sekali takdir berkehendak lain. Ia sudah menggariskan pun menentukan untuk Clara pasti harus menderita penyakit kelainan syaraf yang melumpuhkan jari jemarinya. Akibatnya, ia tak lagi sanggup memainkan tuts-tuts piano, dan mesti pensiun dini dari karir profesionalnya sebagai seorang virtuoso juga komponis musik yang cukup dinanti oleh para penyokongnya kala itu. Sepeninggal Clara, Brahms begitu terpukul. Ada satu kesengsaraan dan kepedihan yang mendalam tinggal bersemayam. Bak sungai yang mengering tak ada lagi airnya, produktivitas Brahms untuk menghasilkan nada-nada indah penuh inspirasi dan orisinalitas seolah mandek. Kepergian Clara sang inspirator utama adalah pemicunya.
Di penghujung kata, saya bisa bilang buku ini telah sukses luar biasa dalam menunaikan fungsi pokok dan terdepannya sebagai sebuah biografi musik definitif Brahms. Ia menginterpretasi dan mengelaborasikan kenangan akan hidup tokoh berpengaruh di buana musik klasik bernama Johannes Brahms dengan ulasan yang padat, berbobot, hangat, serta amikal. Buku ini sangat tepat dibaca teruntuk mereka yang ingin memperoleh penghayatan yang komplit, lekat, sekaligus tajam atas musik-musik klasik aliran Romantik, khususnya yang ditulis oleh Brahms. Bravo Jan Swafford!
December 27, 2023
A tremendous achievement of a biography. Especially so given that Brahms burned so much of his letters and musical sketches (specifically to keep them away from future biographers!) Although the writing is occasionally dry, and the figure of Brahms not always consistent (not really Swafford's fault), I enjoyed this tremendously. Perhaps not the biography for people seeking a concise overview of Brahms life, this is undoubtedly the biography for those that want a complete portrait of the third of the "Big 3" - Bach, Beethoven, Brahms' - life.
July 11, 2018
I would tentatively recommend this biography. While it certainly is very long, and definitely not lacking in detail, some of that extraordinary amount of detail is not correct. For instance, on page 48, he describes insurrections taking place in several countries, including "Czechoslovakia" in 1848. In reality, Czechoslovakia did not come into existence until 1918, some 70 years later. What country did he mean? While some people may feel that this is a small point, the author makes reference in his introduction to a number of other errors being pointed out to him since it was published in hard cover. This is not good.
In addition, the author mentions the Frauenchor (women's choir) that Brahms directed while at the same time as mentioning Brahms' Marienlieder. While it is not made clear that there is no connection between the work and the choir, their being mentioned together indicates that the Marienlieder was written for women's voices alone, when in fact it was written for mixed choir. This is never made clear. Then the author goes on to mention that Brahms eventually wrote six Marienlieder, when in fact it was seven. These are not state secrets being held in an obscure archive at an obscure university in Bad Ischl; they are readily available and quantifiable basic facts that the author did not bother to either make clear or verify. These and other faux pas bring into question his research abilities (or rather, those of his assistant[s]), and how far he can be trusted, despite him often citing his sources.
On the plus side, there are few writers who have such a tremendous command of the English language and write as powerfully as Swafford can. I found it often fascinating to read. If nothing else, his tome helped me to appreciate Brahms' music more than before. In addition, Swafford points out that one of the reasons for the lowering of musical standards (amongst composers and others) is the fact that people don't play two-piano or four-hand one piano renditions of important works anymore, due to the rise of the gramophone, and now the compact disc player. At times, his insights are exceptional.
The problem with composer biographies is that those whose research abilities are impeccable rarely have good writing skills, and vice-versa. For those who need to be sure that the information they are getting is absolutely correct, they will have to approach a good reference librarian to recommend an academic rather than a "popular" biography.
In addition, the author mentions the Frauenchor (women's choir) that Brahms directed while at the same time as mentioning Brahms' Marienlieder. While it is not made clear that there is no connection between the work and the choir, their being mentioned together indicates that the Marienlieder was written for women's voices alone, when in fact it was written for mixed choir. This is never made clear. Then the author goes on to mention that Brahms eventually wrote six Marienlieder, when in fact it was seven. These are not state secrets being held in an obscure archive at an obscure university in Bad Ischl; they are readily available and quantifiable basic facts that the author did not bother to either make clear or verify. These and other faux pas bring into question his research abilities (or rather, those of his assistant[s]), and how far he can be trusted, despite him often citing his sources.
On the plus side, there are few writers who have such a tremendous command of the English language and write as powerfully as Swafford can. I found it often fascinating to read. If nothing else, his tome helped me to appreciate Brahms' music more than before. In addition, Swafford points out that one of the reasons for the lowering of musical standards (amongst composers and others) is the fact that people don't play two-piano or four-hand one piano renditions of important works anymore, due to the rise of the gramophone, and now the compact disc player. At times, his insights are exceptional.
The problem with composer biographies is that those whose research abilities are impeccable rarely have good writing skills, and vice-versa. For those who need to be sure that the information they are getting is absolutely correct, they will have to approach a good reference librarian to recommend an academic rather than a "popular" biography.
June 20, 2011
It took me a lot longer to finish this book than it did for others of my musical friends who've read this fantastic biography, but that had more to do with my impatience with musical analysis than other factors (after all, the book IS a scholarly work, even though it generally reads as a story anyone would pore over with great interest--so long as the reader loves the music of Brahms, anyway!) It IS a large tome, though--over 600 pages, easily--and there's so much to digest, it takes doing so a bit at a time.
In the end, one comes away not only with a greater appreciation for Brahms the man (and his reputation as a grouchy old bachelor is warranted!--but there's so much more THERE than just the myths), but also the other great musical, political, artistic figures who shared his history. This is easily as much a history of Robert and Clara Schumann as it is a Brahms history--also not a surprise, since nearly all classical music lovers know how the Schumanns' lives intertwined with that of Brahms--but there are also fascinating insights into Brahms's relations with Lizst and Wagner (both of whom he disliked, or more correctly--both of whose MUSIC he abhorred) and many others (for instance, he and Tchaikovsky disliked each other, whereas Edvard Grieg and Brahms admired each other's music). There is ample discussion of the women Brahms loved but never married, as well as thoughtful psycho-analysis on the wounds and abuses of his younger years that very likely caused him to remain a bachelor until the end.
A fantastic biography of a musical "lion"(one of the three "B's: Bach, Beethoven--and Brahms). Well worth the effort.
In the end, one comes away not only with a greater appreciation for Brahms the man (and his reputation as a grouchy old bachelor is warranted!--but there's so much more THERE than just the myths), but also the other great musical, political, artistic figures who shared his history. This is easily as much a history of Robert and Clara Schumann as it is a Brahms history--also not a surprise, since nearly all classical music lovers know how the Schumanns' lives intertwined with that of Brahms--but there are also fascinating insights into Brahms's relations with Lizst and Wagner (both of whom he disliked, or more correctly--both of whose MUSIC he abhorred) and many others (for instance, he and Tchaikovsky disliked each other, whereas Edvard Grieg and Brahms admired each other's music). There is ample discussion of the women Brahms loved but never married, as well as thoughtful psycho-analysis on the wounds and abuses of his younger years that very likely caused him to remain a bachelor until the end.
A fantastic biography of a musical "lion"(one of the three "B's: Bach, Beethoven--and Brahms). Well worth the effort.
July 23, 2011
A very nicely paced narrative of a great and interesting man and his times. Because of the intelligence of the author and his respect for his subject, I became filled with enthusiasm for Brahms and listened to a lot of his music. I travelled through his life with him from Opus 1 on. About half the music was new to me (thank you, YouTube). Though I'm an amateur, almost all the musical analysis was accessible and helpful. I loved Swafford's way with words - movingly high-flown just where I wanted it to be and dry to the appropriate degree at just the right moments.
March 16, 2012
This is, by far, the best biography of any composer I have read. It not only presented interesting information about Brahms, the man, it also presented concurrent and detailed analysis of some of his seminal works. As I was reading, I would go find a youtube recording, and immediately not only see, but hear was I was reading about. My understanding and appreciation of Brahms the person and the breadth of his composition has been enhanced many fold.
July 29, 2021
To date I've read three Brahms bios: Geiringer's, MacDonald's, and this one. Swafford's is, by far, my favorite. My memories of the other two have faded, but I believe Swafford's bio is the most comprehensive and also the most personal of the three. Here is Brahms, warts and all. That's what I look for in biography generally, and that's what Swafford gave me. He promised in his introduction to be as kind as he could to those of us who are musicologically challenged. He lied ;-). His discussions of the musical mechanics of various compositions and his musical examples left me twiddling my lower lip in utter befuddlement, but I recognize that the real fault there lies with me and not with him. How can you write a decent bio of any composer without delving deeply into his creations? Swafford did seem to limit his technical tours de force to a dozen or so compositions that he considers key to understanding Brahms as a composer. I thank him for his restraint. As to Brahms himself, what can I say? An endlessly fascinating man (to me, at least) and one of the two composers whose music I most cherish. Bach is the other--something Brahms would have applauded. If you're looking for a solid, comprehensive, powerfully written Brahms bio which tells you more about the man himself, and his milieu, than you're likely to find anywhere else, this book is for you.
November 17, 2017
This lengthy biography was an endlessly fascinating read. Swafford focuses more on Brahms' life , psychology, and relationships than on analyses of his compositional technique and development. There is a lot of detail here, but the prose never bogs down. Swafford has a great deal of insight into Brahms' motivations and his position as a relatively conservative yet daring composer caught between the waning of Romanticism and the emergence of modernism. The analysis and discussion of Brahms' music that does appear in the text makes the latter clear, and helps to explain the richness in in these pieces.
He also has a very clear eye regarding his subject, portraying Brahms' as a complex person with flaws that often caused conflict with and even estrangement from even his closest friends and with virtues that drew people to him and cemented life-long friendships. I particularly enjoyed the examination of his relationship with Clara Schumann, which spanned four decades and was foundational to Brahms' personal and professional life.
He also has a very clear eye regarding his subject, portraying Brahms' as a complex person with flaws that often caused conflict with and even estrangement from even his closest friends and with virtues that drew people to him and cemented life-long friendships. I particularly enjoyed the examination of his relationship with Clara Schumann, which spanned four decades and was foundational to Brahms' personal and professional life.
August 28, 2018
I don't read many biographies, and I'm not sure why I picked this up, but I immediately liked the book, especially as it was written by a musician. The portions of the book that focus on the music are fabulous, even with my limited understanding, and I believe the author writes about the music the way that Brahms was intended to be appreciated.
However the rest, as the book goes on, descends into tedium. The problem really is that Brahm's life is too long and too large, and the author having set a standard for event reporting, just has too much to report, and can't step back. As a result, I became more distant from the author and from Brahms himself. I acknowledge it is a difficult task, but, to use a Brahms analogy, might have mixed up the writing style, like the last movement of Brahms' 4th, than just use the same reporting style.
I can recommend this to a lot of people, especially musicians, and biography lovers who want a change of pace. Brahms was a true giant and I love his music. The book is enlightening in many ways. I just can't recommend it enthusiastically.
However the rest, as the book goes on, descends into tedium. The problem really is that Brahm's life is too long and too large, and the author having set a standard for event reporting, just has too much to report, and can't step back. As a result, I became more distant from the author and from Brahms himself. I acknowledge it is a difficult task, but, to use a Brahms analogy, might have mixed up the writing style, like the last movement of Brahms' 4th, than just use the same reporting style.
I can recommend this to a lot of people, especially musicians, and biography lovers who want a change of pace. Brahms was a true giant and I love his music. The book is enlightening in many ways. I just can't recommend it enthusiastically.
July 31, 2017
A marvelously readable and balanced biography. I enjoyed it thoroughly. My brother and sister in law, both highly trained musicians that read, will get the parts I missed where Swafford illustrates a point about the music by printing out a section of various scores. Still, even if you cannot do this, it's a worthwhile read.
December 16, 2018
This book is a a blend of biographical history and musical analysis, so be ready to sit with You Tube to check out the dozens of music works that are discussed! I loved this book for its insight into the mentality of a composer-musician, and how he coped with his life issues through his music. As a follower of Christ, I was interested to see if the composer of the German Requiem we sang in college had any kind of saving faith. He did not, according to this historian, and eyewitness accounts of many of his close associates. He did have a friend who conducted the Requiem's premiere who advised Brahms to include the resurrection of Christ in the work. Brahms declined becuase he did not believe in Jesus.
January 22, 2015
Richly researched and written, it would be a joy for anybody interested in Brahms and his musical century. Swafford's insight into the nuances of the mythical rivalry between Brahms and Wagner is a particular revelation. Also, his ability to place the featured works of Brahms within the context of his life story is masterful, taking us as close as we can get to the mind of the composer in creating them and of his friends (in particular, the Schumanns) upon first hearing them. Of the books faults, Swafford's habit of speculating on hidden meanings in the letters, etc. of the players in the story (almost invariably to the discredit of the speaker) seems at odds with a professed zero tolerance for speculation in his opening. It's a tendency that is natural enough, especially given Brahms extensive efforts to obscure his life for posterity (by burning letters and so on), but given Swafford's claim that he would steer clear, it left me shaking my head a number of times. But, all in all, the book was indeed a page turner, even if the pages turned a little slowly during the more technical musical analysis (which, I admit, is due to my own sub-amateur knowledge), and I would recommend it without reservation to anybody interested in the subject.
May 3, 2020
The author is verbose, repetitious, sometimes overconfident and pretentious. He often falls into the trap of trying to capture the gist of a musical piece by elaborating on psychological states and conflicts of the author. Thus, several pages make for a truly tiresome and irritating read. That Brahms' life was a continual struggle between unbridled feeling and self-imposed restraint may be true, but to immediately transpose this into a musical tension between form and "emotions" or, even worse, between form and expressiveness, is superficial and rush. There is no opposition like the one Mr. Swafford continually advocates. Brahms' works are wonderfully expressive: all he has to say is precisely expressed through his forms. Emotions are thundering throughout Brahms' works, and much more so for being shaped and powerfully developed through highly refined forms.
On the bright side, Brahms' life and personality emerge from the book, together with a perspective on his views and his musical development; but the book would much benefit from being cut to half its present size.
On the bright side, Brahms' life and personality emerge from the book, together with a perspective on his views and his musical development; but the book would much benefit from being cut to half its present size.
December 30, 2011
Maybe I don't love Brahms enough, but I found this book to be too detailed. It would go on an on about very minor little historical characters and their interaction with Brahms. I felt like I was sifting, along with the researcher, through piles and piles of papers to get to the essence of who Brahms was. I wish he would have been more willing to not share EVERYTHING he researched. I finally gave up after reading about 450 pages of this tedious book.
I will say that it is well researched and contains a lot of info but I would only recommend it to serious Brahms enthusiasts or to those who have read a bio of Brahms before and want to fill in some of the details of his life.
I will say that it is well researched and contains a lot of info but I would only recommend it to serious Brahms enthusiasts or to those who have read a bio of Brahms before and want to fill in some of the details of his life.
June 26, 2011
Not only one of the best biographies of a composer I have read, but one of the best biographies of anyone!
This book is engaging, earthy, detailed and magisterial all at the same. The reader feels he/she really gets to understand this not-always-very-approachable man and links the great events of his life with his music.
Unlike many music biagraphies, you can read it and enjoy it without having heard a note of Brahms' music. But in truth if you do read it you will want to listen to the music of Brahms (and Joachim) and you will hear far more in it than you ever knew there was.
Highly recommended.
This book is engaging, earthy, detailed and magisterial all at the same. The reader feels he/she really gets to understand this not-always-very-approachable man and links the great events of his life with his music.
Unlike many music biagraphies, you can read it and enjoy it without having heard a note of Brahms' music. But in truth if you do read it you will want to listen to the music of Brahms (and Joachim) and you will hear far more in it than you ever knew there was.
Highly recommended.
June 19, 2020
In the introduction to this fine, well-researched biography, author Jan Swafford announces his intention “to take [Brahms] off the pedestal and put him back in the world of the living, with his feet on the ground.” This he accomplishes to a remarkable extent. The book bristles with details about Brahms’s personal life, his artistic ideals and process, his travels, his business side, and more. Of such Brahms biographies as I know, this one provides more detail on the great composer’s in some ways complicated relationships with women. More than other works of its type, too, it succeeds in depicting the closeness, indeed many-sidedness, of Brahms’s life-long friendship with Clara Schumann. Swafford, too, does much to trace the rise and fall in the affective curve drawn by Brahms and Joachim. This is revealing, since Joachim was the first major artist to recognize Brahms early in his career, and even many years later, after the two had become distant in a personal sense, remained a stout professional associate, supporter, and champion of Brahms’s music. One caveat: the book contains occasional glitches, such Swafford’s insistence on calling the Karlskirche in Vienna a cathedral, whereas it is only a parish church, if a prominent one. This notwithstanding, the book is a great and informative read and one I strongly recommend to all lovers of classical music.
September 19, 2017
This is the best biography I have ever read. Swafford finds the equilibrium how to describe the life of a composer, without being very technical on his music. Most people know Brahms, the composer. However, we know very little about Brahms, the human being. Brahms excellently shows Brahms' human side, and helps us understand his works through his personality. We get to know a grumpy man, whose misogyny originates from his childhood, and who feared that he would be just a footnote in the history of music. His unfulfilled love for Clara Schumann is a beautiful human story that ensured that Brahms would become one of the greatest composers of all time, since he made a decision and turned away from love, and instead chose music. As Swafford writes it: "He was ready to substitute an archetypal, and unilateral, Brahmsian bargain: to live with yearning rather than fulfillement." A must-read for anyone who wants to know the person behind the music.
June 15, 2017
I was surprised to find that this book was out of print, undeservedly so. Having come from Jan Swafford's excellent biography of Beethoven, I had high expectations for this one, expectations which were not left disappointed. This book provides an excellent overview of both Brahms the man, and his times, written in an engaging and accessible manner. The musical analysis is not too dense for the uninitiated, and should offer readers a deeper insight into the music we all so love and revere.
Brahms' life and career were full of dichotomies: the romantic young Kreisler vs.
the classicist Herr Doktor Brahms, the musical conservative vs. the innovative composer of rhythmic ingenuity, the upstanding north German vs. the resident of frivolous Vienna, the man who longed for a home and family of his own vs. the man who did everything in his powers to ensure he remained "frei aber froh" (free but happy, or should that be lonely).
Brahms' life and career were full of dichotomies: the romantic young Kreisler vs.
the classicist Herr Doktor Brahms, the musical conservative vs. the innovative composer of rhythmic ingenuity, the upstanding north German vs. the resident of frivolous Vienna, the man who longed for a home and family of his own vs. the man who did everything in his powers to ensure he remained "frei aber froh" (free but happy, or should that be lonely).
August 24, 2017
Johannes Brahms: A Biography / Jan Swafford. Despite the fact that I am truly tone deaf and basically musically illiterate, I took up my friend’s recommendation (on a printed annual greeting) to read this book. I have now read it—apart from, say, a dozen pages of musical analysis--and I can report that it was worth my while. Fortunately, I do like detailed biographies and at 636 pages of text, this book fit the bill. Swafford expertly delineates Brahms’ personal complexity, his musical giftedness, and both his personal and professional relationships. The extensive references to various “schools” of music was extremely interesting to me. The amount of scholarship is immense. I have been considerably enlightened.
February 24, 2021
honestly i think that when you read a biography of someone you really esteem or admire (so, in my case, any composer), at the end of the book you are grieving for them, too. even if they died 150 years ago. i am doing my own small grieving for the wonderful (and flawed) man brahms now. this book was really awesome. again, just like the beethoven biography by this same author, it's packed with so much information and great analysis. i'm going to have to do a homage to brahms and listen to all the lieder i've been sleeping on. i read the ending to alto rhapsody and cried. brahms has really blessed the earth with his music.
June 15, 2022
Writing here as a lifetime musician who has always loved Brahms, I found this to be a magnificent account of the man's life and work. I've always mostly just listened to the music and was only secondarily aware of the sort of man he was, and especially the details of his long relationship with Clara Schumann and her family (including Robert while he was still alive). These historical details are important to understanding how Brahms worked and why he chose the type of life he did.
This book has been around for 25 years, and I'm sure there are better reviews available than I could ever come up with.
This book has been around for 25 years, and I'm sure there are better reviews available than I could ever come up with.
May 15, 2021
It is hard to imagine a better biography of Brahms. As with his great work on Beethoven, Jan Swafford's writing is warm, lucid and compelling; sympathetic yet invariably objective, and grounded in meticulous research and a deep understanding of what it is to be a composer. Every chapter contains gems of wisdom and insight, but Swafford's account of the 'St Anthony Variations' and its significance, and his explanation of sonata form, are simply brilliant. I found this book not just truly informative and enriching, but genuinely uplifting too.
Read
July 18, 2020Jan Swafford is a national treasure. He writes clearly, and in his biographies of Brahms and Beethoven has created narratives that sweep you along. Sometimes he delves into the deep waters of music theory, and even though I'm a musician, I sometimes find these excurses difficult to follow, so I know it's even more difficult for non-musicians. Nevertheless, if you have any interest in classical music, I believe you'll enjoy Swafford's biography of Brahms.
December 4, 2019
What a fantastic biography. Paints a really detailed and nuanced picture of Brahms the (imperfect) man, but also sheds light on the context — the evolution of music in central Europe in the 19th century — very effectively.
A companion playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3tn...
A companion playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3tn...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews