Mariss Jansons and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks won a Grammy Award for their recording of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 13.
Composer Biography
Johannes Brahms, the composer, worked his way up from a dilapidated childhood home in Hamburg's notorious Gängeviertel to a prosperous life in Vienna.
Composition History
It took Brahms 14 years, from 1862 to 1876, to complete his First Symphony, driven by his desire to live up to Beethoven's example.
Performer Biography
Mariss Jansons, the conductor, studied violin, piano, and conducting at the Leningrad Conservatory and won the Karajan Competition in Berlin in 1971.
Recording & Production
The Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, featured on this album, was ranked among the top ten orchestras in the world by Gramophone magazine in 2008.
Compositional Technique
In his Fourth Symphony, Brahms used an old Baroque form called a passacaglia, which is a sequence of free variations over an unchanging bass.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Brahms believed that composing required hard work, stating, 'There is no creation that does not involve hard work.'
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Brahms: Symphonies Nos. 2 and 3
Brahms: Symphonies Nos. 1-4 (Live)
Brahms: The Symphonies
Complete Symphonies & Academic Festival Overture
Johannes Brahms: Complete Symphonies
Brahms: Complete Symphonies
Brahms: The Four Symphonies & Variations on a Theme by Haydn
