May 9, 2011

Today we're marking (albeit belatedly) anniversaries of two great composers: Johannes Brahms was born on May 7 in Hamburg, Germany in 1833, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky seven years later, in a small provincial town of Votkins, Russia. Both became famous during their lifetime, both wrote magnificent romantic symphonies and their piano and violin concertos are in the repertoire of every concretizing musician. What is surprising is how different the musical traditions were from which the two men came. Brahms, "one of the three Bs," as Bülow put it, followed in the steps of generations of composers. From Michael Praetorius and Heinrich Schütz in the early 17th century, to Buxtehude and Telemann, and then Bach, Gluck and on, classical music in Germany had been developing for hundreds of years. When Tchaikovsky was born, however, Russian classical music was all of 4 years old: Glinka's opera "Ivan Susanin," the first significant and authentically Russian musical composition, was completed in 1836. By the time of Tchaikovsky's death in 1893, Russian music was securely established as one of the leading national schools.

We have so many recordings of both composers that our listeners would do better by browsing the library. Still, here are two playlists. Brahms: the finale (fourth movement) of Piano Quartet Op.25 performed by Quartetto Anthos; Intermezzo in e minor, Op. 119, No. 2, played by the pianist Alon Goldstein; Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77 (with Joachim's cadenza), Rachel Barton Pine, Violin, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Carlos Kalmar conducting. Tchaikovsky: the 1st movement (Moderato e semplice) of Quartet No. 1 Op. 11, in D Major, performed by the Avalon String Quartet; Valse-Scherzo in C Major, Dmitri Berlinsky, Violin, Elena Baksht, Piano; Piano Concerto No. 1 in b-flat minor, Op. 23 James Dick, Piano, Texas Festival Orchestra, Robert Spano conducting. To listen to the Brahms playlist, click here, for Tchaikovsky – here.