Johannes Brahms

Ivor Keys has written the first major biography of Brahms in English since the 1940's. Falling into two equal parts, this biography provides a chronological account of his life, and a work by work analysis of every piece of music Brahms wrote. By returning to a wealth of original material (including many volumes of Brahm's notes and letters) Ivor Keys has written a fresh, lively account of Brahms' career and personal life. He charts Brahms' career as composer and musician, and creates a unique picture of the German middle class milieu in which he operated. He discusses the importance of Brahms' relationships with fellow musicians and composers including Liszt, the violinist and composer Joachim, and of course Robert and Clara Schumann. He presents Brahms as a passionate, unpredictable man who managed to survive artistically and financially in a world so unlike that of the great composers before. The size of the analyses in the second part of the book vary with each work - few would dispute the large space allowed for the first symphony, a work without which the history of the symphony would be much poorer.
There are also chapters which review Brahms' musical style and his status in posterity.