Johannes Brahms 1833 - 1897
Johannes Brahms * – once commented that even in the dark he could lay his hand on his bible. He was raised in the Lutheran Church where he developed a love for the bible. He was a meticulous student of Martin Luther’s German translation of the Bible. He also thoroughly enjoyed reading Luther’s book Table-talk. Brahms was somewhat unorthodox in some of his beliefs and was to some extent at a loss to choose between the dogmas of the different denominations in his area. He was a very strong Lutheran but he was Lutheran not so much by the letter of their beliefs as he was in the spirit of their beliefs.
Brahms had a deep knowledge of Scripture which is reflected in the outstanding texts that he compiled for his choral works. For his German Requiem he didn’t use the typical Latin Requiem Mass but put together his own Bible verses that he found personal comfort in and in the hope of the life to come.
The title of the selection that we will be performing today, ‘Variations on a Theme by Haydn’ has stirred quite a bit of controversy. It seems that some musicologists believe that Haydn didn’t in fact write this melody. Brahms was introduced to this melody by a friend C.F. Pohl who discovered it in a set of divertimenti written for winds by Haydn. The theme of the second one caught Brahms attention and it was bore the title Chorale St. Antoni. Some refer to the work as ‘Variations on the St. Anthony Chorale”. Brahms opens the work for winds just as Haydn did in his divertimenti.
Brahms at age 20
* References on Brahms come from a marvelous book from
Zondervan Publishing House ISBN: 0-310-20806-8 called:
Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers by Patrick Kavanaugh pages 141 - 149
