1. Johannes Brahms Katelyn Rader Music 1010 Eportfolio project

2. Biography May 7, 1833 Born to Johanna Henrika Cristiane and Johann Jakob Brahms. Middle child of 3 kids Hamburg, Germany

3. Continued Bio… Johannes played the Cello, piano and horn. Began composing at the age of 11. Accepted into the “Instruction of Piano and Theory” taught by Eduard Marxen, on scholarship.

4. Influences on life and music Brahms continued composing and traveling the country. 1848, mixing of gypsy and Hungarian music called “Hongrios” Its been said this influenced his Hungarian Dance compositions. In 1852, a Minnelied poem by Count Kraft von Toggenburg, inspired Brahms to write the Fsharp Piano Sonata op. 2. Septemeber 30, 1853, Brahms met Schumanns family, Robert and Clara Schumann.

5. Clara Schumann

6. 1854-1876 Started composing his first symphony; took him 22 years to compose it. 1860, his distinct style begins to emerge. More refined, sophisticated and mature. He toured Europe to earn money for most of the 1860’s. 1865, Brahms mother dies, overwhelmed with grief he composes the German Requiem. 1866 it was completed.

7. Loss of love After clara passed away, He wrote his final pieces for the clarinet. Carinet sonatas, trio and quintet. A year after, Brahms was suffering with pancreatic, or liver cancer. He was able to attend a performance of his 4th symphony by the Vienna Philharmonic

8. Death of a legend On April 3, 1897, when he finally passed; Johannes Brahms was given an honorable gravesite next to Beethoven and Schubert, both men inspired Brahms, both men he admirred.

9. Composition History Symphony no.1 C minor was written and re-written for 22 years. Perfectionist=Johannes Brahms Very influenced by Beethoven, this was often called Beethovens tenth due to the similarities in sound and style. It was first performed on November 4, 1876, first in Karlsruhe, then in Grand Duchy of Baden.

10. Listening Guide on Symphony No. 1 C minor

11. I. : 01-Dynamics start out loud! So loud it’s almost surprising. You can hear can hear horns, clarinets, flutes, drums. But it quickly changes to quiet, and remorseful. III. : 35-Flute and clarinets enter, lightening up the harmonic tensions. I think that this represents when he met Clara. He seemed lighter, brighter, not so dark and heavy. The first 2 Mins of this piece is filled with tension and power.

12. VIII. 2:20-Tone and dynamics change. It goes from seriously tense, to soft and sweet. Sounds romantic and not so dramatic. The woodwinds help with that, lighten the tone. The melody played is soft and sweet. Almost encouraging. XII. 3:53- dynamics are changing, you feel like you’re being pulled in and pushed away. I feel as though inner conflict is releasing itself right here. Does he go with his feelings for Clara or not. I feel like he isn’t quite sure where to go here. XIV. 4:16- I thought this part in the music was really interesting because it sounds like the decrescendo is taken in steps, just as if someone was walking down them. Very smooth in the flow of the music, but choppy dynamics.

13. XVIII. 5:15- Enter the horns. Here the tone changes again, feeling carefree, sweet and soft into serious and well-mannered. It adds an interesting change in dynamics, the minor harmonies are back and I feel as though Brahms is at a low point in his life. XXI. 6:19-This part was particularly interesting to me, I felt as though I was hopping down stairs. Fast, with just enough break to breathe… I love that he moves his music this way, the rhythm is set up for interesting dynamics. XXV. 7:38-pp. again feel as though my ears have slid down a tall slide. The decrescendo sounds so physical, the movement in the dynamics are beautiful. XXVII. 8:40- The music continues to build for the last 30 seconds, then here, it suddenly drops to a pp, or very quiet level. Very interesting choice, but it grabs your attention.

14. XXXI. 10:10-In the last 30 seconds of the song, we heard tension and harmonies fighting for attention, but this is where it changes. It suddenly becomes very sweet, like a woman’s influence… becomes very cheery sounding. XXXIII. 10:52- clarinets do the majority of the moving here. It sounds like love. If love had a sound. We lost the harmonies and they transformed into a positive sounding melody. XXXV. 12:00- The crescendo of the last 30 seconds, becomes a decrescendo and whittles down to almost nothing. We went from being in love and having happy peaceful woodwinds, to very quiet minor harmonies and no woodwinds.

15. Works cited http://brahms.unh.edu/ Picture of old brhams http://brahms.unh.edu/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Brahms picture credit young brahms http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Brahms "Brahms: 15 Facts about the Great Composer." N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Sept. 2014. "Johannes Brahms." About. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Sept. 2014 Johannes Brahms. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Sept. 2014.