New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-04-05
MUSICAL COMMENT.
THE DEATH OF BRAHMS-"hAA IN"
COMPOSER WROTE AND THE KIND
OF MAN HE WAS.

THE DEATH OF BhAi'
COMPOSER WROTE AND THE KIND
OF MAN HE WAS.
,vhor Mr. Blspham. last January, sang the iour
.oIemn songs which bear the last nufnper !" INC
| catalogue Of the compositions OF Johannes p'"""'
Tho Tribune observed that they possesseu an 80
,toor,,bical interest that was pathetic anu t''"'
| choir noctical contents, the manner III ""o 80
! ,,,d hack 10 the German Requiem WIN
h,cb no did honor TO his dead mother' an" Wv
,oc, tina, the composer was slowly succui'o'"s ~
an incurable disease combined ~ 'e' W ra.
mari as works which would be much 'a'keu a"o"'
! IN the future II Is much TO the hono' u ~
viennese newspapers that the worid WIS sp" -,
tho main Of following the great composer ua' y,
~ - ort s,eadlIv down into the valley OF
! 49, shodow ~ death No harm was done ny VIC
Zoo, ,ba, rho newspapers failed to prepare 'ne pun
| liz mind for the shock which came 'ast -.
| cont by n brief note on the previous ud' " -,
# was q most gracious exhibition OF kl'"''''' ,,
| a. feeling 4 few alarming reports founh 'he"
way into the German journals ABOUT a ~ sw
w., ,,,,,, {, wos known by his friends even mere
| ,bot tho disease which had seized upon MN was
cancer of the liver, and necessarily lata II
| described as jaundice. and haste was maui ~
| lsh the fact that he had resumed MS u"''' 49,,
| nades and labors The reason was co"'
| for the distinguished sufferer; the contemplation -
death was grievous to him, ana ne was ''"
J even nv the physician who watched over III" " 'i0
ord But that his thoughts ran on death Is e',,
dent from the four Serious Songs ""'e'
hereafter have as mournful interest for 'ne hu-
mirers OF his genius as the "Patheuc - ''p""'
has for the admirers of TschaikowsKy'
,r,, 1o,,h ~ pr,bms will naturally arouse anew
tho CONTROVERSY which ragged fifteen or twenty years
ago concerning the real merit of his muS'c' e.
natey It can now be carried On without o''o, -,
Of feeling No champion OF wagner "or'hS VI -"
nane will feel called upon to 1enounce bra",ns
music because Wagner did not Ike either II VI nm
40 lover OF Brahms will hold 1t essential 10 aousc
the lyric drama because he finds pleasure III '"e
symphonies and German Requiem. IL mas De-
IN unhappy feature Of the pol smic instig' leu Wy
Wagner that the pers onal element always piaYeu
so large A role in f. We have heard Brahms s''e'-
ousIv rallied against by an ardent champion ana per-
sonal friend Of Wagner for reasons that ohiy one
in whom personal prejudice had utterly ueS ios't
all IA ,ulty for judgment could find even shreu vi
validity. Brahms was n collector OF musicaI au'o-
graphs OF which he possessed invaluable treas
| r-o. Peter Cornelius composer Of The Barber or
| pagdad" had given him the autograph manuscript
Of the overture 10 'Tannhduser with the Ddcchd-
nalian scene as rewritten by Wagner for the fariS
performances in 1861 In the last years of his Ire
| Wagner encouraged by his wife, was very anxious
10 recover as many as possible Of his original manu-
scr,n,a which had got scattered throughout Europe.
He appealed TO Brahms for the autograph In MS
possession. and offered In return handsomely
bound copy OF OF his dramas or possibly OF the
entire Nibeung tetralogy. Such an exchange OF
course seemed entirely unequal to Brahms VINO hau
sufficient admiration for his arch-enemy TO want u
keen nossesson of SO interesting relic as the over
.ure and bacchanali; and great was tho anger
thereat Of Wagner Eventually, by some sort OF an
appeal to Brahms's generosity, Wagner got pack
his manuscript but the fact that Brahms wanted
to keep il was always looked upon a. Outrageous ~
the Wagner household
u was entirely natural that Brahms should have
been the object Of violent attacks. lie was strong
assertive. sef-reant man. who neither asked con-
sideraton for himself felt himself bound TO give
It to others. In this he was thoroughly German
man. He never INDUCED in Alterations himself nor
endured them in others There Is probably only a
mild infusion Of exaggeaon in the story that once
when leaving a trawing-room In Vienna he turned
al the door to beg the pardon OF any one whom he
had Internationally neglected to offend He was in
tolerant of pretence, and in everything the opposite
OF a snob A well-known composer once read at the
panoforte fer him a work which has since become
we'll known. Brahmss criticism What beau
t:ful music paper you use Pray where do you get
it," Another composer wrote setting of Schiller's
"Die Glocke" and asked his opinion the music.
He received II In these words IT have always
thought that Schler's Glocke' of the
greatest poems written. and shall continue 10
hold that opinion" But II he would not fa;ter.
neither would he listen to fattery. Once host pro-
duced a bottle OF wine which he said he called
Brahms wine because 1t surpassed all other wines as
Brahms's music surpassed that Of all other COM
posers. Take It away" said Brahms laconcay,
land bring a bottle OF Bach
Compared with some OF the great men among
his predecessors Brahms a volumlnous
composer. When Simrock published his thematic
catalogue OF Brahmss compositions in 1855 the list
OF numbered works ran up to 1Oi. That represented
thirty-ive years OF effort one might have ex-
cd a snrr ,bO,, .ho 1,
to popularity was made so broad and easy
done for Brahms by Schumann In his famous essay
Meme Bahnen,' that he would have kept the pub
fishers busy as soon as his opus had been
launched: but this was not the case He was
twenty years old when he began to publish; within
the next eight years Ga period which Is surely the
heyday of ambitious artists lfe) he gave the
world but fifteen works. OF which the large
jority pianoforte solos and songs. The cir
cumstance discoses that from the beginning he
possessed that power OF self-cricism and self
control and that reverental attitude toward his
art that marked his later career The last ten
years added only twenty numbers TO his published
list Frivolity wholly foreign to his nature.
He would take no chances even with himself 1t
would have been strange indeed II he had felt
the ambition 10 compose an opera-9n ambition
which tugged so strenuously at the heart strings
OF Mendelssohn and cost Beethoven such misery.
But he resolutely held the desire In check Most
plainly he doubted his ability as a musical drama
list and steeed himself against temptation in that
direction. If opera os mine had failed" he
once remarked Il should surely write another.
can't make up my mind to write the first. feel
about opera composing as do about matrimony"
Tho time which mioht have been consumed by
operate experiments he gave 10 works In the styles
which called up no doubts to alright him. His
creative career compassed about forty-three years
Doubtless there are many unpublished works among
his papers but the record OF published works is
after ALL proud His opus appeared In
1853 his opus l2l last year As rule only the
works OF rst-class magnitude and Importance were
permitted to monopolize opus number in his list