• Name: Johannes Brahms
• Birthday: 05/07/1833
• Birth Place: Hamburg, Germany
• Died: 04/03/1897
• Place of Death: Vienna, Austria
• Country: Germany
• Period: Romantic
• Genre: Classical

Title	Release
Sonatas 1 & 2 for Cello & Piano
(61) String Quartet No. 3 in B flat major, Op. 67	1992
(142) Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 5	1962
(77) String Sextet No. 1 in B flat major, Op. 18	1988
(85) Trio for clarinet (or viola), cello & piano in A minor, Op. 114	1987
(93) Trio for horn (or viola or cello), violin & piano in E flat major, Op. 40	1987
(78) String Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 51/1
(250) Academic Festival Overture, for orchestra in C minor ("Akademische Festouvertüre"), Op. 80	1982
(119) Ballades (4) for piano, Op. 10	1982
(135) Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115	1964
(177) Concerto for violin, cello & orchestra in A minor ("Double"), Op. 102	1992
(215) Ein deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem), for soprano, baritone, chorus & orchestra, Op. 45	1976
(139) Hungarian Dances (21) for piano, 4 hands (or piano solo), WoO 1	1983
(53) Liebeslieder Waltzes (18) for vocal quartet & piano, 4 hands, Op. 52	1990
(233) Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15	1936
(316) Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 83	1948
(114) Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25	1990
(116) Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34a	1957
(103) Piano Trio No. 1 in B major, Op. 8	1994
(80) Piano Trio No. 2 in C major, Op. 87	1994
(73) Piano Trio No. 3 in C minor, Op. 101	1989
(129) Pieces (4) for piano, Op. 119 W	1988
(144) Pieces (6) for piano, Op. 118
(75) Serenade for orchestra No. 1 in D major, Op. 11	1992
(49) Serenade for orchestra No. 2 in A major, Op. 16	1992
(142) Sonata for cello & piano No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38	1981
(122) Sonata for cello & piano No. 2 in F major, Op. 99	1962
(185) Sonata for violin & piano No. 1 in G major ("Regen"), Op. 78
(153) Sonata for Violin & Piano No. 2 in A major ("Thun"), Op. 100
(193) Sonata for Violin & Piano No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108 W	1983
(74) String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 51/2
(58) String Sextet No. 2 in G major, Op. 36	1961
(455) Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68
(404) Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73	1959
(421) Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90	1958
(387) Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98
(260) Tragic Overture, in D minor, Op. 81	1993
(120) Variations (25) and Fugue on a Theme of Handel, for piano, in B flat major, Op. 24
(270) Variations on a Theme of Haydn for orchestra in B flat major (St. Anthony Variations), Op. 56a
(426) Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77
(15) Gesang der Parzen ("Es fürchte die Götter"), for chorus & orchestra ("Song of the fates"), Op. 89	1948
Es reit ein Herr und auch sein Knecht, folk song for voice & piano (Deutsche Volkslieder), WoO 33/28	2003
Klänge I ("Aus der Erde quellen Blumen"), duet for soprano, alto & piano, Op. 66/1	2005
(11) Begräbnisgesang ("Nun lasst uns den Leib"), for 5-voice chorus, winds & timpani ("Funeral Hymn"), Op. 13	1997
(39) Zigeunerlieder (8), for voice & piano (arranged from Op. 103)	1983
(88) Alto Rhapsody, for alto, male chorus & orchestra, Op. 53	1989
(21) Zigeunerlieder (11) for vocal quartet & piano, Op. 103	1995
(47) Piano Sonata No. 1 in C major, Op. 1	1987
(49) Piano Sonata No. 2 in F sharp minor, Op. 2	1987
(81) Vier ernste Gesänge (4), for voice & piano (Four Serious Songs), Op. 121	1989
(7) Abenddämmerung ("Sei willkommen, Zwielichtstunde!"), song for voice & piano, Op. 49/5	1997

The stature of Johannes Brahms among classical composers is well illustrated by his inclusion among the "Three Bs" triumvirate of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms. Of all the major composers of the late Romantic era, Brahms was the one most attached to the classical ideal as manifested in the music of Haydn, Mozart, and especially Beethoven; indeed, Hans von Bülow once characterized Brahms' Symphony No. 1 (1855-1876) as "Beethoven's Tenth." As a youth, Brahms was championed by Robert Schumann as music's greatest hope for the future; as a mature composer, Brahms became for conservative musical journalists the most potent symbol of musical tradition, a stalwart against the "degeneration" represented by the music of Wagner and his school. Brahms' symphonies, choral and vocal works, chamber music, and piano pieces are imbued with strong emotional feeling, yet take shape according to a thoroughly considered structural plan.

The son of a double bassist in the Hamburg Philharmonic Society, Brahms demonstrated great promise from the beginning. He began his musical career as a pianist, contributing to the family coffers as a teenager by playing in restaurants, taverns, and even brothels. Though by his early twenties he enjoyed associations with luminaries like violinists Eduard Reményi and Joseph Joachim, the friend and mentor who was most instrumental in advancing his career was Schumann, who all but adopted him and became his most ardent partisan, and their esteem was mutual. Following Schumann's death in 1856, Brahms became the closest confidant and lifelong friend of the composer's widow, pianist and composer Clara Wieck Schumann. After a life of spectacular musical triumphs and failed loves (the composer was involved in several romantic entanglements but never wed), Brahms died of liver cancer on April 3, 1897.

In every genre in which he composed, Brahms produced works that have become staples of the repertory. His most ambitious work, the German Requiem (1863-1867), is the composer's singular reinterpretation of an age-old form. The four symphonies -- lushly scored, grand in scope, and deeply expressive -- are cornerstones of the symphonic literature. Brahms' concertos are, similarly, in a monumental, quasi-symphonic vein: the two piano concertos (1856-1859 and 1881) and the Violin Concerto (1878) call for soloists with both considerable technical skill and stamina. His chamber music is among the most sophisticated and exquisitely crafted of the Romantic era; for but a single example, his works that incorporate the clarinet (e.g., the Trio in A minor, Op. 114 and the two Sonatas, Op. 120), an instrument largely overlooked by his contemporaries, remain unsurpassed. Though the piano sonata never held for Brahms the same appeal it had for Beethoven (Brahms wrote three to Beethoven's 32), he produced a voluminous body of music for the piano. He showed a particular affinity for variations -- notably, on themes of Schumann (1854), Handel (1861), and Paganini (1862-1863) -- and likewise produced a passel of national dances and character pieces such as ballades, intermezzi, and rhapsodies. Collectively, these constitute one of the essential bodies of work in the realm of nineteenth century keyboard music. ~ AMG, All Music Guide