JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897)

The surname of only few composers has led to the formation of a noun. Brahms was one of them, and the word “Brahmsian” or “Brahmsianer” (versus Wagnerianer, Brucknerianer) may therefore be counted as an attempt to grasp Johannes Brahms and his music, as an entire phenomenon. “Brahmsian” musical art stood apart of, if not beyond of his time. Brahms himself thought that he was an outsider. He was often considered to be the successor of Beethoven, bringing music from the classical period to its ultimate rise. But even more than that, Johannes Brahms wasn’t a pure traditionalist but rather a fundamental innovator, whose work reflects the classical style albeit becoming the prerequisite for something new. As mighty, omnipresent and invincible as we perceive Brahms, perhaps, was the disease that affected him, a carcinoma of the pancreas which causes the typical complex of symptoms (including jaundice) that Brahms suffered from. Eduard Hanslick, famous music critic and an admirer of Brahms has published a recollection of Brahms’ “Last Days”, which includes Brahms’ last attendance of a concert performed by the Vienna Philharmonic on March 7, 1897 in the Musikverein (Vienna concert hall), where the concert audience applauded after every movement of his 4th symphony, such that the much weakened Brahms “had to emerge from the director’s box (Musikvereinsloge) and bow in gratitude”. Revolutionary developments in molecular biology and medicine have led to a modern understanding of Cancer, or the “Emperor of All Maladies” (title of a book written by Indian-born American physician and oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee). Along with this understanding, we are today also facing the challenge of living with cancer, and the knowledge thereof…

Author: Marcus Säemann (Translation: Manfred Hecking)