Johannes Brahms's 190th Birthday

Today’s Doodle celebrates the 190th birthday of German composer and pianist Johannes Brahms who is widely considered one of his era’s most important artists.

Brahms was born on this day in 1833, in Hamburg, Germany. The son of a horn and double-bass player, Brahms began studying music with his father at seven years old. Just a few years later, Brahm composed his first piece. He spent his adolescence playing in dance halls and inns across Hamburg to help support his family financially.

In 1853, a mutual friend introduced Brahms to renowned composer Robert Schumann. He praised Brahms’ compositions in the periodical Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, and soon after a German music publishing house began to circulate his work. With his newfound recognition in the field, Brahms taught piano and became the conductor of a women’s choir in Hamburg in 1860. 

Brahms then led the Singakademie, a choral society in Vienna. In his free time, he developed popular compositions like Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor and String Sextet in B-flat Major. His success earned him a conductor position at Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde (Society of Friends of Music). He simultaneously directed the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra for three seasons. 

In 1868, Brahms debuted Ein deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem) in Bremen. The composition became his most famous choral work, and many consider it one of the most significant music pieces of the 19th-century. 

The Symphony No. 1 in C Minor was one of Brahms’ first orchestral compositions and received widespread praise. Brahms earned new fans around the world and continued to create more ambitious compositions, such as his famous Hungarian Dances (Danzas Húngaras), as he toured Switzerland, Hungary, and Poland. In 1875, he retired from his director position and focused on composing for the rest of his life. 

Throughout his career, Brahms paid homage to traditionalist compositions with innovative techniques that evolved the Romantic moment. His work continues to influence modern-day musicians and composers.