"Essential to the composer's method of song-writing was a harmony between musical form and poetic text. Sams takes us right to the heart of that creative method and helps to explain how and why a particular part of the text matches a particular piece of music. He includes a list of the motifs employed by Brahms to help show how the mind of the composer worked when seeking apposite music for the imagery of the poem."--BOOK JACKET.

"The song translations by Stanley Appelbaum are excellent. Stark's commentaries are concise, intelligent, highly readable . . . Laymen and specialists alike will find [this book] a useful reference book to have on their shelves." —Fontes Artis Musicae "This book would be a warmly welcomed addition to the library of any lover of art song." —American Music Teacher "It is informative, insightful, illuminating, an invaluable resource for singers, teachers, coach-accompanists, highly recommended for anyone having anything to do with Brahms lieder." —Journal of Singing "Stark's understanding and affectionate discussion of the relationship between music and text draws the reader to examine more of Brahms's songs." —Choice Lucien Stark analyzes in detail more than 200 solo songs by Brahms and gives us translations of the texts. For performers, students, and teachers, this is a treasure-house of information and insight about a rich and varied repertoire.

During the latter part of his life, Brahms wrote only sets of relatively short pieces. With their formal and stylistic perfection, they are among the most valuable of the late-Romantic additions to piano repertoire. Included in this edition are 30 pieces by Brahms, preceded by a helpful introduction which contains definitions of the ballade, rhapsody, capriccio and intermezzo.

Eric Sams' study of Schumann's 246 songs (Faber 1961, revised 1993) - a companion volume to his The Songs of Hugo Wolf, also available in Faber Finds - remains a classic text. By providing a translation, commentary and notes for each of the songs, tracing original sources and relating recurring themes vividly to Schumann's life, Sams provides a unique documentary of Schumann's song-writing art. The book includes a foreword (to the First Edition) by the legendary accompanist, Gerald Moore, who writes: 'So felicitous is the writing that one is hardly conscious of the erudition and profound thought that have gone into the making of it . . . Eric Sams has produced a work that will be read and read again as long as Robert Schumann's songs are loved.'

Unaccompanied choral works composed or otherwise arranged by Brahms for mixed choruses as well as individual men's and women's choruses include songs, love songs, romances, quartetes, and duets.

Michael Musgrave presents a contemporary view of Brahms 150 years after his birth, seeing him not simply as the "conservative" figure so often stressed in the past, but as one who creatively reinterpreted a wider range of historical elements than any composer of his time. Brahms absorbed his studies directly into his music making and composition and in so doing helped to evolve not merely a personal language which was regarded as progressive and sometimes difficult by a range of contemporaries and successors, but also helped to establish an ethos of historical reference which anticipates the twentieth century. The Music of Brahms concentrates on the music, with Brahms's life discussed briefly in the introduction. The works are considered in four phases according to genre, with an emphasis on connection and on the development and elaboration of a unified language. The list of works includes recent discoveries and a calendar outlines the pattern of his musical life, including relevant information concerning performances.

Johannes Brahms was until now widely regarded as the archetype of the «absolute musician». Based on new research, the study shows how close autobiographic and poetic elements are in fact linked to his oeuvre. Like Robert Schumann, Brahms subscribed to an aesthetic of «poetic» music. In many of his compositions he got his inspiration from personal experiences, poems or images, as is shown by hitherto unpublished documents, letters, and diary entries, as well as from close analyses of individual works. Brahms's personality, too, is seen in a new way. He adopted Joseph Joachim's motto «Frei, aber einsam», «Free but Alone». The tonal code F - A - E, the musical symbol of this, recurs frequently in his works. Not least, the English version of the book, originally published in German in 1997, includes four additional chapters that investigate novel aspects by dealing in detail with the First Symphony, the German Requiem, Nänie and the Four Serious Songs. The American Brahms Society stressed the importance of the study for all those who want to come to know the unknown Brahms.

" . . . a generous treatment of some of Brahms's most endearing and imaginative creations." —Choice " . . . an excellent addition to the literature on vocal chamber music . . . " —Notes In this sequel to A Guide to the Solo Songs of Johannes Brahms, Lucien Stark opens up a beautiful and largely neglected repertoire, providing the full German text for each song, along with a new English translation, notes on vocal ranges, and a wealth of engaging commentary of technical, aesthetic, and historical interest.

Brahms in Context offers a fresh perspective on the much-admired nineteenth-century German composer. Including thirty-nine chapters on historical, social and cultural contexts, the book brings together internationally renowned experts in music, law, science, art history and other areas, including many figures whose work is appearing in English for the first time. The essays are accessibly written, with short reading lists aimed at music students and educators. The book opens with personal topics including Brahms's Hamburg childhood, his move to Vienna, and his rich social life. It considers professional matters from finance to publishing and copyright; the musicians who shaped and transmitted his works; and the larger musical styles which influenced him. Casting the net wider, other essays embrace politics, religion, literature, philosophy, art, and science. The book closes with chapters on reception, including recordings, historical performance, his compositional legacy, and a reflection on the power of composer myths.

Covering Brahms's 32 song opuses published during four decades of song-writing, this book offers a way of understanding what Brahms believed to be the right poetic basis for his immortal music. Johannes Brahms's much-loved solo songs continue to be enjoyed in recordings and on recital stages all over the world. This book provides a wealth of information on the poets whose words he set, many of whom are still unfamiliar.A substantial introduction explores the multiple meanings song-poetry held for Brahms and challenges the widely held opinion that he responded only to the general mood of a poem. It is followed by alphabetically organised essays on the forty-six poets whose verses he set. Each summarises the settings, Brahms's links to the poet, interconnections between the poets, and offers further context situating the poet within a wider literary, cultural and political landscape. The poets are revealed to be part of a deeply collegial cultural community of which Brahms was an active part. Covering Brahms's 32 song opuses published during four decades of song-writing, this book offers a way of understanding what Brahms believed to be the right poetic basis for his immortal music. It is designed to be an essential reference tool for students and scholars of Johannes Brahms, as well as performers and lovers of his songs.