7 Johannes Brahms 7he gave concerts and from whom he learned something of
Roma (Gypsy) music—an influence that remained with
him always.
The first turning point came in 1853, when he met the
composer Robert Schumann, and an immediate friend-
ship between the two composers resulted. Schumann
wrote enthusiastically about Brahms in the periodical
Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, praising his compositions. The
article created a sensation. From this moment Brahms was
a force in the world of music, though there were always
factors that made difficulties for him.
Chief among these factors was the nature of Schumann’s
panegyric itself. There was already conflict between the
“neo-German” school, dominated by Franz Liszt and Richard
Wagner, and the more
conservative elements,
whose main spokesman
was Schumann. The lat-
ter’s praise of Brahms
displeased the former,
and Brahms himself,
though kindly received
by Liszt, did not conceal
his lack of sympathy
with the self-conscious
modernists. He was
therefore drawn into
controversy, and most
of the disturbances in
his personal life arose
from this situation.
Gradually Brahms came
to be on close terms
with the Schumann
household, and, when
Johannes Brahms, 1853.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.