The Daily Book of Classical Music

DAY 13

GREAT COMPOSERS

Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)

LOOKING BOTH WAYS

Johannes Brahms, one of the great composers of the Romantic period, often looked more to the past than the future for his inspiration, living in an ironic tension between innovation and tradition. Eschewing the unbridled emotionalism and lack of structure of many of his contemporaries, Brahms’s style might best be described as “controlled Romanticism,” infusing rich textures into the more standard classical forms.

Methodical and deliberate by nature, as a child Brahms reportedly invented his own form of music notation so he could write down the melodies in his head. ...