His music is rooted in the structures and compositional techniques of his Classical and earlier forebears, including Ludwig van Beethoven and Johann Sebastian Bach. His compositions include four symphonies , four concertos , a Requiem , and many songs, amongst other music for symphony orchestra, piano, organ, voices, and chamber ensembles. They remain a staple of the concert repertoire. Born to a musical family in Hamburg , he composed in his youth, concertizing locally.
He was self-conscious and could be severely self-critical, but his music was largely successful. It gradually formed the basis for a growing circle of supporters, friends, and musicians. With Joachim's assistance, Brahms sought Robert Schumann 's approval, receiving both his and Clara Schumann 's vigorous support and guidance. After Robert's death, they remained close friends, and Brahms settled as a bachelor in Vienna. The latter and Anton Webern were inspired by the intricate structural coherence of Brahms's music, including what Schoenberg termed its developing variation.
Johannes Brahms was born in His sister Elisabeth Elise had been born in and a younger brother Fritz Friedrich was born in Johann Jakob gave his son his first musical training; Johannes also learnt to play the violin and the basics of playing the cello. From he studied piano with Otto Friedrich Willibald Cossel. Cossel complained in that Brahms "could be such a good player, but he will not stop his never-ending composing. At the age of 10, Brahms made his debut as a performer in a private concert including Beethoven 's quintet for piano and winds Op.
By he had written a piano sonata in G minor. From to Brahms studied with Cossel's teacher, the pianist and composer Eduard Marxsen. Marxsen had been a personal acquaintance of Beethoven and Schubert , admired the works of Mozart and Haydn , and was a devotee of the music of J. Marxsen conveyed to Brahms the tradition of these composers and ensured that Brahms's own compositions were grounded in that tradition. In Brahms made his first public appearance as a solo pianist in Hamburg, playing a fantasy by Sigismund Thalberg.
His first full piano recital, in , included a fugue by Bach as well as works by Marxsen and contemporary virtuosi such as Jacob Rosenhain. A second recital in April included Beethoven's Waldstein sonata and a waltz fantasia of his own composition and garnered favourable newspaper reviews. Persistent stories of the impoverished adolescent Brahms playing in bars and brothels have only anecdotal provenance, [ 17 ] and many modern scholars dismiss them; the Brahms family was relatively prosperous, and Hamburg legislation very strictly forbade music in, or the admittance of minors to, brothels.
