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Book Review
Oct. 7th, 2017 03:47 pmJohannes Brahms: A Biography
by Jan Swafford
This lengthy biography was an endlessly fascinating read. Swafford focuses more on Brahms' life , psychology, and relationships than on analyses of his compositional technique and development. There is a lot of detail here, but the prose never bogs down. Swafford has a great deal of insight into Brahms' motivations and his position as a relatively conservative yet daring composer caught between the waning of Romanticism and the emergence of modernism. The analysis and discussion of Brahms' music that does appear in the text makes the latter clear, and helps to explain the richness in in these pieces.
He also has a very clear eye regarding his subject, portraying Brahms' as a complex person with flaws that often caused conflict with and even estrangement from even his closest friends and with virtues that drew people to him and cemented life-long friendships. I particularly enjoyed the examination of his relationship with Clara Schumann, which spanned four decades and was foundational to Brahms' personal and professional life.
by Jan Swafford
This lengthy biography was an endlessly fascinating read. Swafford focuses more on Brahms' life , psychology, and relationships than on analyses of his compositional technique and development. There is a lot of detail here, but the prose never bogs down. Swafford has a great deal of insight into Brahms' motivations and his position as a relatively conservative yet daring composer caught between the waning of Romanticism and the emergence of modernism. The analysis and discussion of Brahms' music that does appear in the text makes the latter clear, and helps to explain the richness in in these pieces.
He also has a very clear eye regarding his subject, portraying Brahms' as a complex person with flaws that often caused conflict with and even estrangement from even his closest friends and with virtues that drew people to him and cemented life-long friendships. I particularly enjoyed the examination of his relationship with Clara Schumann, which spanned four decades and was foundational to Brahms' personal and professional life.
