Focus on a Masterwork: Brahms_s Fourth Symphony

Botstein Focus on a Masterwork, Brahms’s Fourth Symphony By Leon Botstein Written for the concert Focus on a Masterwork: Brahms’s Fourth Symphony performed on April 30, 1993 at Carnegie Hall.  This concert brings to the contemporary audience a reminiscence of a time in the history of music when the piano was the primary means of…

Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98 (1885) By Walter Frisch, Columbia University Written for the concert Focus on a Masterwork: Brahms’s Fourth Symphony performed on April 30, 1993 at Carnegie Hall.  Especially in its formidable E-minor outer movements, Brahms’s Fourth Symphony presents a gruff exterior to its listeners. As such, it has never…

Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 16 (1909; rev. 1949) By Richard Hoffman, Oberlin Conservatory Written for the concert Focus on a Masterwork: Brahms’s Fourth Symphony performed on April 30, 1993 at Carnegie Hall.  Despite — or because of — a series of bitter disappointments during the years 1908 and 1909, both in his personal life…