Abstract |
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 this book, the author provides extensive and up-to-date information on 430 of the composer's personal and professional contacts, including relatives, friends, acquaintances, and physicians; fellow musicians and composers whom Brahms particularly admired and in 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. With information not usually available in Brahms biographies, this volume combines findings from both primary and secondary sources, giving insights into Brahms's character, life, and career and shedding light on nineteenth-century educated middle- and upper-class culture. A comprehensive chronology of Brahms's life, a bibliography, and two indexes round out this important reference. |