To browse Academia. Robert Schumann through a letter of recommendation provided by the famous violinist Joseph Joachim. It was Schumann's unabashed praise of the music that Brahms showed him that, more than anything else, provided the young composer with the courage necessary to begin work on a full-scale symphony the next year.
That courage, however, fell short in the end --Brahms felt himself too inexperienced and was too haunted by the "footsteps of a giant" Beethoven to begin fruitful symphonic work --and Brahms reorganized the material he had written as a sonata for two pianos. By , this sonata for two pianos had itself been reborn as the Piano Concerto No. The Piano Concerto No. The premiere of the piece in January was not the failure that it is sometimes portrayed to have been, but the cold response at a follow-up performance in Leipzig left a bitter taste in Brahms' mouth that he never forgot --Leipzig remained an enemy for the rest of his life.
The concerto is in three movements: Maestoso, Adagio, and Allegro non troppo. The orchestral exposition to the giant Maestoso is mighty, epic, and tragic in no small portion; much later, a radiant, chorale-like second idea is offered by the soloist, who Brahms provides with the kind of rich, deep sonorities so characteristic of his piano writing.
Brahms wrote the words "Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini" at the head of the slow movement, but whether the words are an homage to Robert Schumann whom Brahms sometimes called Domini , a portrait of Clara Schumann the most popular interpretation, and one seemingly supported by a letter from Brahms to Clara , or some other reference is unknown.
Discovery, analysis and history of the manuscript and its relationship with Brahms's cadenza. An artistic pinnacle yet to be surpassed, they easily stand alongside those of Beethoven, while similar parallels may be observed in their creative development. The E Minor Sonata originally featured an additional slow movement, but the relentlessly self-critical composer decided its inclusion would damage the balance of the sonata, which already featured a lengthy and darkly warm, lushly romantic and lyrical first movement.
