Issue 4 - Brahms as influenced by Bach

I'm publishing this week's issue a little late --- sorry! I did, however, want to make sure to write about this because several people have commented to me about how they heard a little bit of Bach in Brahms' organ music. The prelude this week is another chorale prelude: Herzlich tut mich erfreuen (My heart is filled with comfort). It is my favorite of all the Elf Choralvorspiel. The postlude is the Prelude in G Minor, which of Brahms' free works, is also my favorite. I heard classmates at Eastman play these pieces, but I've only had the opportunity to learn them just now --- it's been SO worth the wait!

So, why is it that we can hear Bach's influence in Brahms' organ works? Briefly, I'll give 3 ideas...

1.) Conservativism... Brahms was not a radical composer of the Romantic Era. He was a conservative, much like Mendelssohn was. It was during the Romantic Era that musicians began to take a scholarly interest in music of the past. This meant that many works of Bach were finally being published for the first time. For composers like Brahms, using "ancient" forms of composition such as the chorale-prelude was a way of paying great respect to the past while bringing their own romantic style to the form.

2.) Registration... Brahms did not compose for the "romantic" organ like his contemporary French composers such as César Franck and Charles-Marie Widor. The orchestral organ of France (the Cavaillé-Coll) inspired the French-Romantic organ school to compose music in an orchestral fashion that was a complete departure from the past. In Germany, the organ was not at that stage while Brahms was composing. Therefore, the colors I choose on the organ reflect a sound that you may associate with earlier Baroque music, such as that of Bach.

3.) Scholarly Findings... Ian Mills, in his online review of The Reception of Bach's organ works from Mendelssohn to Brahms by Russell Stinson, writes: "Following an overview of Brahms’ relationship with the organ music of Bach, Stinson begins a detailed study of ‘Brahms as a scholar of Bach’s works’. By considering the markings in his personal scores, Stinson attempts to assemble – for the first time – a picture of how Brahms extracted fragments of Bach’s works to use as a stimulus for own compositions. Brahms’ annotations include the highlighting of themes, form, rhythmic and harmonic irregularities, ornamentation and fingerings. The chapter reaches a powerful and convincing conclusion by suggesting how Brahms used the knowledge which he gleaned from this study to compose his own Eleven Chorale Preludes op.122."

(Image: Johannes Brahms)