Brahms and His World: Revised Edition - Paperback

by Walter Frisch (Editor), Kevin C. Karnes (Editor)

Since its first publication in 1990, Brahms and His World has become a key text for listeners, performers, and scholars interested in the life, work, and times of one of the nineteenth century's most celebrated composers. In this substantially revised and enlarged edition, the editors remain close to the vision behind the original book while updating its contents to reflect new perspectives on Brahms that have developed over the past two decades. To this end, the original essays by leading experts are retained and revised, and supplemented by contributions from a new generation of Brahms scholars. Together, they consider such topics as Brahms's relationship with Clara and Robert Schumann, his musical interactions with the "New German School" of Wagner and Liszt, his influence upon Arnold Schoenberg and other young composers, his approach to performing his own music, and his productive interactions with visual artists.

Back Jacket

This book seeks a complementary contextualization by means of a three-part design. Part 1, six scholars probe aspects of Brahms's relationship to his world. Part 2 comprises substantial selections from contemporary or near-contemporary analyses and reviews. Part 3, important memoirs of Brahms are presented in translation, also for the first time.

Author Biography

Walter Frisch is the H. Harold Gumm/Harry and Albert von Tilzer Professor of Music at Columbia University. He is the author of Brahms: The Four Symphonies and Brahms and the Principle of Developing Variation. Kevin C. Karnes is assistant professor of music history at Emory University. He is the author of Music, Criticism, and the Challenge of History: Shaping Modern Musical Thought in Late Nineteenth-Century Vienna.