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[[Image:Johannes Brahms.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Johannes Brahms, ca. 1853.]]

[[Image:Johannes Brahms.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Johannes Brahms, ca. 1853.]]

'''Johannes Brahms''' (Hamburg, 1833 - Vienna, 1897) was a German [[classical music]] composer, whom [[conductor]] Hans van Bülow dubbed as one of the "three ''B's''" ([[Bach]], [[Beethoven]], and Brahms). Joseph Machlis, contrasting him with contemporaries [[Hector Berlioz|Berlioz]], [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]], and [[Franz Liszt|Liszt]], called him:

'''Johannes Brahms''' (Hamburg, 1833 - Vienna, 1897) was a German [[classical music]] composer, whom [[conductor]] Hans van Bülow dubbed as one of the "three ''B's''" ([[Bach]], [[Beethoven]], and Brahms). Joseph Machlis, contrasting him with contemporaries [[Hector Berlioz|Berlioz]], [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]], and [[Franz Liszt|Liszt]], called him:

:an austere, high-minded musician dedicated to the purity of the classical style. His veneration for the past and his mastery of the architecture of absolute music brought him closer to the spirit of Beethoven than any of his contemporaries.<ref>Machlis, Joseph (1970), ''The Enjoyment of Music,'' 3rd edition, W. W. Norton</ref>

:an austere, high-minded musician dedicated to the purity of the classical style. His veneration for the past and his mastery of the architecture of [[absolute music]] brought him closer to the spirit of Beethoven than any of his contemporaries.<ref>Machlis, Joseph (1970), ''The Enjoyment of Music,'' 3rd edition, W. W. Norton</ref>

Brahms was a child prodigy who grew up playing the piano in the saloons and brothels of [[Hamburg]], often paid in drinks. He began studying composition at age 13. From an early age he absorbed the popular and folk idioms – often in a [[Hungary|Hungarian]] style - as an arranger for his father’s light orchestra in Frankfurt. When he was 20 he met the Hungarians Liszt and [[Joachim]]. Joachim and Brahms were to become lifelong friends. This was to surface in his 21 Hungarian Dances, and the scherzo movements of various other works.<ref>The last movement of the Piano Quartet is a perfect example</ref> He also met Robert and Clara Schumann who became his friends and mentors. His relationship with Clara was one of early infatuation maturing to a profound reverence and mutual friendship that lasted the rest of their lives.  

Brahms was a child prodigy who grew up playing the piano in the saloons and brothels of [[Hamburg]], often paid in drinks. He began studying composition at age 13. From an early age he absorbed the popular and folk idioms – often in a [[Hungary|Hungarian]] style - as an arranger for his father’s light orchestra in Frankfurt. When he was 20 he met the Hungarians Liszt and [[Joachim]]. Joachim and Brahms were to become lifelong friends. This was to surface in his 21 Hungarian Dances, and the scherzo movements of various other works.<ref>The last movement of the Piano Quartet is a perfect example</ref> He also met Robert and Clara Schumann who became his friends and mentors. His relationship with Clara was one of early infatuation maturing to a profound reverence and mutual friendship that lasted the rest of their lives.