How did Brahms conduct his four symphonies? What did he want from other conductors when they performed these works, and to which among them did he give his approval? And crucially, are there any stylistic pointers to these performances in early recordings of the symphonies made in the first half of the twentieth century? For the first time, Christopher Dyment provides a comprehensive and in-depth answer to these important issues. Drawing together thestrands of existing research with extensive new material from a wide range of sources - the views of musicians, contemporary journals, memoirs, biographies and other critical literature - Dyment presents a vivid picture of historic performance practice in Brahms's era and the half-century that followed. Here is a remarkable panorama showcasing Brahms himself conducting, together with those conductors whom he heard, among them Levi, Richter, Nikisch, Weingartner and Fritz Steinbach, and their disciples, such as Toscanini, Stokowski, Boult and Fritz Busch. Here, too, are other famed Brahms conductors of the early twentieth century, including Furtwängler and Abendroth, whose connections with the Brahms tradition are closely examined. Dyment then analyses recordings of the symphonies by these conductors and highlights aspects which the composer might well have commended. Finally, Dyment suggests the importanceof his conclusions for those contemporary conductors who are currently attempting to rediscover genuine performance traditions in their own re-creations of the symphonies. This major study is complemented with forty photographs and a frontispiece. It is sure to fascinate musicians, Brahms enthusiasts and those interested in the history of recorded music. CHRISTOPHER DYMENT is author of Felix Weingartner: Recollections and Recordings(Triad Press 1976) and Toscanini in Britain (The Boydell Press 2012). He has published many articles about historic conductors over the last forty years.

Based on his decades of experience conducting these works, Leonard Slatkin guides readers through eight of the most beloved orchestral pieces of the nineteenth century: · Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3, “Eroica” · Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition (orch. Maurice Ravel) · Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique · Johannes Brahms’s Symphony No. 1 · Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World” · Jean Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2 · Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade · Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, “Pathétique” Slatkin tackles problems conductors face before stepping onto the podium and highlights the many decisions they make during the study process, as well as in rehearsal and performance, to bring a score to life. He also shares tricks of the trade for leading efficient rehearsals and recounts engaging anecdotes from a lifetime of music making. This book will open the world of score study to conductors, other musicians, and students interested in expanding their knowledge of this essential repertoire.

A great deal of evidence survives about how Brahms and his contemporaries performed his music. But much of this evidence - found in letters, autograph scores, treatises, publications, recordings, and more - has been hard to access, both for musicians and for scholars. This book brings the most important evidence together into one volume. It also includes discussions by leading Brahms scholars of the many issues raised by the evidence. The period spanned by the life of Brahms and the following generation saw a crucial transition in performance style. As a result, modern performance practices differ significantly from those of Brahms's time. By exploring the musical styles and habits of Brahms's era, this book will help musicians and scholars understand Brahms's music better and bring fresh ideas to present-day performance. The value of the book is greatly enhanced by the accompanying CD of historic recordings - including a performance by Brahms himself.

It was Carl Dahlhaus who coined the phrase ’dead time’ to describe the state of the symphony between Schumann and Brahms. Christopher Fifield argues that many of the symphonies dismissed by Dahlhaus made worthy contributions to the genre. He traces the root of the problem further back to Beethoven’s ninth symphony, a work which then proceeded to intimidate symphonists who followed in its composer's footsteps, including Schubert, Mendelssohn and Schumann. In 1824 Beethoven set a standard that then had to rise in response to more demanding expectations from both audiences and the musical press. Christopher Fifield, who has a conductor’s intimacy with the repertory, looks in turn at the five decades between the mid-1820s and mid-1870s. He deals only with non-programmatic works, leaving the programme symphony to travel its own route to the symphonic poem. Composers who lead to Brahms (himself a reluctant symphonist until the age of 43 in 1876) are frequently dismissed as epigones of Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Schumann but by investigating their symphonies, Fifield reveals their respective brands of originality, even their own possible influence upon Brahms himself and in so doing, shines a light into a half-century of neglected nineteenth century German symphonic music.

A 1997 examination of the genesis, background and extra-compositional allusions of this controversial work.

As an influential and well-connected composer, Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) had encountered, befriended, and collaborated with hundreds of people over his significant career. In Brahms and His World: A Biographical Dictionary, author Peter Clive provides extensive and up-to-date information on the composer's personal and professional association with some 430 persons. These persons include relatives, friends, acquaintances, and physicians; fellow musicians and composers whom Brahms particularly admired and in the editions of whose works he was involved; conductors, instrumentalists, and singers who took part in notable or first performances of his works; poets whose texts he set to music; publishers and artists; and even the rulers of certain German states with whom he had significant contact. Offering information not usually available in Brahms biographies, this volume combines findings from both primary and secondary sources, giving insights into Brahms' character, his life, and his career, and shedding light on the educated middle and upper class culture of the nineteenth century. A comprehensive chronology of Brahms' life, a bibliography, and two indexes round out this important reference guide.

Hans-Joachim Hinrichsen's Hans von Bülow's Letters to Johannes Brahms, originally published in German in 1994, covers the correspondence between Hans von Bülow and Brahms from 1877 to 1892, with Brahms's replies, where obtainable, included in the commentary. In addition to selected facsimiles of letters, postcards, and concert programs, this research edition of the correspondence of these two giants of classical music includes a thorough commentary explaining individuals, events, and issues discussed in the letters. Authoritatively researched, Hinrichsen's edition of these letters, artfully translated by Cynthia Klohr, brings to life the world of music that Brahms and Bülow inhabited.

First published in 2011. Johannes Brahms: A Research and Information Guide is an annotated bibliography concerning both the nature of primary sources related to the composer and the scope and significance of the secondary sources which deal with him, his compositions, and his influence as a composer and performer. The second edition will include research published since the publication of the first edition and provide electronic resources.

This Companion gives a comprehensive view of the German composer Johannes Brahms (1833–97). Twelve specially-commissioned chapters by leading scholars and musicians provide systematic coverage of the composer's life and works. Their essays represent recent research and reflect changing attitudes towards a composer whose public image has long been out-of-date. The first part of the book contains three chapters on Brahms's early life in Hamburg and on the middle and later years in Vienna. The central section considers the musical works in all genres, while the last part of the book offers personal accounts and responses from a conductor (Roger Norrington), a composer (Hugh Wood), and an editor of Brahms's original manuscripts (Robert Pascall). The volume as a whole is an important addition to Brahms scholarship and provides indispensable information for all students and enthusiasts of Brahms's music.

Leonard Bernstein is one of the most significant musicians in the history of the United States. He was the first conductor born in the United States and trained exclusively in his home country to develop an international profile. Most famous as music director of the New York Philharmonic from 1958 to 1969, Bernstein spent far longer as a guest conductor who developed substantive relationships with several major ensembles. He was a composer, conductor, and has made significant contributions as a composer of concert music and scores for musical theater. He was also an excellent pianist, well known for playing piano concertos while he directed the ensemble from the keyboard. Few 20th-century American composers have made such important contributions in each of the areas of symphonic music, ballets, and musical theater. Historical Dictionary of Leonard Bernstein contains a chronology, an introduction, an appendix, an extensive bibliography, and more than 700 cross-referenced entries on Bernstein’s life and works. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Leonard Bernstein.