lished no compositions; his object being to free himself from a
narrow subjectivity and to give scope to his wide human sym-
pathies and to his passion for perfection of utterance. It seemed
to him that a plausible originality might degenerate into mere
idiosyncrasy, and that universality of appeal should be a musi-
cian’s highest goal. When he resigned his post and came before
the public with his first large work, a concerto for pianoforte and
orchestra, the gain made in increased power and resources was
evident. The greatest tribute which can be paid Brahms is that
he has summed up and united the classic principles of clearness
and solidity of workmanship with the warmth and spontaneity of
the Romantic School. In 1862 Brahms settled in Vienna where,
for thirty-five years, his career was entirely free from external
incidents of note; his time spent in quiet steady work and in the
attainment of artistic ideals. His slow logical development is like
that of Beethoven, due to the fact that his works were far from
numerous, but finished with the greatest care. The standard of
creative quality is also very high; comparatively few of Brahms’s
works are not altogether alive. Matthew Arnold’s beautiful lines
on labor are applicable to Brahms. “Work which in lasting fruit
outgrows far noisier schemes; accomplished in repose; too great
for haste; too high for rivalry.” Brahms thus described to Mr.
Henschel, a former conductor of the Boston Symphony Orches-
tra, his ideals concerning composing: “There is no real creating
without hard work; that which you call invention is simply an
inspiration from above, for which I am not responsible, which
is no merit of mine.” And again, “Whether a composition is
beautiful is one consideration, but perfect it must be.” The few
of his compositions which show connection with outward events
are theDeutsches Requiem, his best-known choral work (in com-
memoration of his mother’s death) and theAcademic Overture,
composed in place of the conventional thesis, when—in 1880—
the University of Breslau conferred on him a doctor’s degree.
This Overture, based on several convivial student songs, is on
the whole his most genial composition for orchestra and has won
a deserved popularity the world over.[254] For sustained fancy
his most beautiful work for chorus and orchestra is theSchick-
salslied(Song of Destiny). Symphonic composition, as has been
said, came in the latter part of Brahms’s career, his first work
in that form being op. 68. After that, within a few years, three
other symphonies were composed. His last works include the
significant pianoforte pieces calledIntermezzi—not all equally
ann
(Ann)
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