1854-1855
Brahms at Hanover--Hans von Bülow--Robert and Clara Schumann in
Hanover--Schumann's illness--Brahms in Düsseldorf--Variations on
Schumann's theme in F sharp minor--B major Trio--First public
performance in New York--First attempt at symphony.
With the opening of the year 1854, Brahms may be said to have entered
upon the first chapter of his new life. The transition stage of his
career had been defined with unusual sharpness of outline. The eventful
journey had been as a bridge by which he had passed from youth to
manhood. Behind it were the dark years of lonely effort with issue still
untried, the gathering up of strength and treasure but dimly recognised
by the worker, labouring under a thick haze of obscurity; in front lay,
straight and clear, the pathway of endeavour towards a fixed goal,
cheered by companionship and illumined by the consciousness of a measure
of success already won. Having tranquillized his mind and shaken off the
effects of months of excitement by nearly a fortnight's intercourse with
his family and friends at Hamburg, Johannes was impatient to get quietly
to work again, all the more since new and forcible motives--the sense of
his responsibility to Schumann, and the desire to become as far as
possible worthy of his encomiums--added their influence to the energy of
his nature, and helped to spur him on to the resolve to outdo even his
utmost.
Bringing his stay in Hamburg to a close with the opening of the New
Year, he left on January 3 or 4 for Hanover, where he found a new
introduction awaiting his arrival. Hans von Bülow, who had passed
Christmas in Joachim's 'dear society,' writes on the 6th to his mother:
'I have become tolerably well acquainted with Robert Schumann's
young prophet Brahms. He arrived two days ago, and is always with
us. A very lovable, frank nature, and a talent that really has
something God-given about it.'[44]
Bülow took an early opportunity of carrying out Liszt's desire, hinted
at in the letter of December 16. He played the first movement of the C
major Sonata on March 1 at Frau Peroni-Glasbrenner's concert in Hamburg,
and was thus the first artist--always excepting the composer himself--to
perform a work of Brahms in public. That his attitude towards our
composer did not, during the succeeding twenty years, correspond with
this promising beginning, as will be seen hereafter, may be chiefly
attributed to the disappointment with which the disciples of the
New-German school gradually realized that their artistic aims were at
variance with the mature convictions of Joachim, whom they reckoned for
a while as one of themselves, and of Brahms, whose allegiance they had
hoped to secure.
Johannes, established in a lodging of his own at Hanover, began the
routine of work, diversified by intimate association with a few chosen
friends, which he preferred to the end of his life, and was soon
absorbed in the composition of his B major Pianoforte Trio. The intimacy
between Joachim and himself was now widened to a triple alliance by the
addition of Grimm, and lively discussions were carried on in Joachim's
rooms late into the night by the three friends. The young violinist had
not been a smoker up to this time, but his companions used to envelop
him and themselves in such thick clouds of tobacco, that one night,
unable any longer to endure his sufferings passively, he suddenly
declared his surrender, and began to puff away with the others, to
Brahms' and Grimm's great delight.
Schumann had accepted an invitation from Hille, the founder and
conductor of the 'New Singakademie' at Hanover, to be present at a
performance of his 'Paradise and the Peri' on January 28, and, to the
joy of the young musicians, wrote to Joachim to suggest that his visit,
which was to be made in the company of his wife, should be the occasion
of several public appearances. He continues:
'Now, where is Johannes? Is he with you? If so, greet him. Is he
flying high--or only amongst flowers? Is he setting drums and
trumpets to work yet? He must call to mind the beginnings of the
Beethoven symphonies; he must try to do something of the same kind.
The beginning is the main point; when one has begun, the end seems
to come of itself....
'I hope also to see, or better still to hear, something new of
yours soon. You, too, should remember the above-named symphony
beginnings, but not before Henry and Demetrius.[45]
'I always get into a good humour when I write to you. You are a
kind of physician for me.
'Adieu.
'Your R. SCHU.'
Some idea of the happy week passed by the three friends in the constant
society of their 'master' may be gathered from Moser's charming
description in his Life of Joachim. Schumann could not see enough of his
beloved young favourites, Joachim and Brahms, and readily extended his
cordiality to their companion Grimm. The third subscription concert was
a veritable Schumann festival. Joachim conducted the master's fourth
symphony, 'evidently with great delight and love,' says the _Hanover
Courier_, as well as Beethoven's Pianoforte Concerto in E flat, played
by Frau Schumann, and performed Schumann's lately-written Violin
Fantasia dedicated to him and first played at Düsseldorf. There were
plenty of opportunities for private meetings in Joachim's rooms, in the
railway restaurant, and elsewhere, that were unshadowed by any
presentiment of an impending catastrophe; for Schumann was unusually
bright and communicative, and took pleasure in amusing his young
friends with anecdotes of his own early experiences. The hours thus
passed were tenderly remembered in after-years by those who had been
gladdened by the setting radiance of a light soon to be extinguished.
'What a high festival we have had through the Schumanns' visit,'
writes Brahms, a few days after their departure, to Dietrich in
Düsseldorf. 'Everything has seemed alive since. Greet the great
ones from me many times.'[46]
A week after their return Schumann wrote:
'_February 6, 1854._
'DEAR JOACHIM,
'We have been at home eight days, and have not yet sent a word to
you and your companions. I have, however, frequently written to you
with invisible ink.... We have often thought of the past days; may
others like them come quickly! The kind royal family, the excellent
orchestra, and the two young dæmons moving amid the scenes--we
shall not soon forget it.
'The cigars are very much to my liking. It seems they were a
handshake from Brahms, and, as usual, a very substantial and
agreeable one.
'Write to me soon--in words and in tones!
'R. SCHU.'
It is sad to realize that the very day after sending this letter, so
free from signs of depression, so bright and healthy in tone, Schumann
wrote down his last musical thought, the now well-known Theme in E flat;
and that three weeks later he was overtaken by the crisis of his
terrible malady. Alarming symptoms declared themselves as the month went
on; the master became a prey to attacks of mental agony, and was
distressed by illusions, imagining that he constantly heard one or more
notes from the impression of which he was unable to rid himself. In the
intervals of relief from his sufferings he continued to compose, and
wrote several variations on his theme, which he fancied had been brought
to him in the night by the spirits of Schubert and Mendelssohn; but his
condition gave rise to such grave apprehension that he was constantly
watched by his wife in turn with one or another devoted friend. On
February 27, however, he managed to leave his house unobserved, and a
few moments afterwards had thrown himself into the Rhine. He was rescued
by some sailors belonging to a steamboat near, and conveyed to his home
in a carriage, but his state continued so distressing that Frau
Schumann, herself needing care at the time, was not allowed by the
doctors to see him, and he was taken, on March 4, to the private
establishment of Dr. Richarz at Endenich, near Bonn.
It would be difficult to describe in exaggerated terms the consternation
with which a great part of the musical world, and especially the friends
of Schumann's immediate circle, became aware of these overwhelming
occurrences. Sorrow for the great master, love for the indulgent friend,
alarmed sympathy for the stricken wife, kept the younger of his
disciples in a state of restless agitation, which seems to have found
its principal relief in the writing of letters of excited inquiry to
Dietrich, the only one of their number on the scene of the catastrophe.
'Never in my life has anything so moved and deeply shaken me,'
wrote Theodor Kirchner, 'as the dreadful occurrence with our
honoured, beloved Schumann.... We should all be terribly lonely
without him, and as regards myself, all pleasure in my own
endeavours would be gone.'
'Pray send me an exact description of the whole catastrophe _as
quickly as possible_,' so ran Naumann's letter, 'especially if
there is any hope of Schumann's complete restoration, how his
unhappy wife has borne this cruel stroke of fate, and how you are
yourself. I repeat my request for _immediate_ news.'
To the friends in Hanover, who had so lately seen Schumann in apparent
enjoyment of unwonted health both of body and mind, the tidings, of
which they first became informed through a paragraph in the _Cologne
Gazette_, seemed too sudden and tragic to be credible.
'DEAR DIETRICH--'Joachim dashed off--
'If you have any feeling of friendship for Brahms and me, relieve
our anxiety, and write word instantly whether Schumann is really as
ill as the paper says, and let us know at once of any change in his
condition. It is too grievous to be in uncertainty about the life
of someone to whom we are bound with our best powers. I can
scarcely wait for the hour that will bring me tidings of him. I am
quite beside myself with dread.
'Write soon.
'Your J. JOACHIM.'
It was impossible, however, to wait for an answer, and no letter could
have appeased the desire of the affectionate young musicians to be on
the spot; so Brahms, having no fixed duties to detain him, started
immediately for Düsseldorf, and Joachim hoped to follow, if only for a
couple of days. On March 3 Johannes sent his report:
'DEAREST JOSEPH,
'Do come on Saturday; it comforts Frau Schumann to see certain dear
faces.
'Schumann's condition seems to be improved. The physicians have
hope, but no one is allowed to see him.
'I have already been with Frau Schumann. She wept very much, but
was very glad to see me and to be able to expect you.
'We expect you on Sunday morning, and Grimm on Wednesday.
'Your
'JOHANNES.'[47]
'To my great relief,' wrote Dietrich a fortnight later to Naumann,
'Brahms came at once after hearing the dreadful news. Grimm is also
here. Joachim was here for two days, and is coming again in a few
weeks.'
At the end of the letter he adds:
'Brahms has written a quite wonderful trio, and is a man to be
taken in every respect as a pattern. With all his depth, he is
healthy, fresh, and lively, entirely untouched by modern
morbidness.'
It now became the cherished duty of the young men to do what in them lay
to support and comfort the sorely-tried wife in her desolation. Nothing,
perhaps, could have helped and soothed her so much as the feeling that
the tie which primarily bound them to her was that of their devotion to
her husband, the knowledge that they mourned with her in a common grief,
and that their sympathy was touched by their personal sense of what she
had lost. Never, indeed, was more loyal sympathy offered for the
consolation of sorrow, and it had its reward. After the first terrible
days had been lived through, a calm and self-possession returned to the
illustrious lady, which heightened, if possible, the young artists'
admiration of her. The news from Endenich improved towards the end of
the month, and on April 1 even became reassuring. The patient was now
passing his time walking, or quietly sleeping, undisturbed by fits of
anxiety or delusions of hearing; was gentle towards his attendant, had
conversed a little with him, and had even made a joke appropriate to the
day. Frau Schumann summoned up courage to look with hope to the future,
and allowed herself to be persuaded to resume some of her ordinary
avocations. The short remainder of the musical season was, indeed,
passed in necessary retirement; but the great pianist found solace in
quietly studying her husband's compositions anew with Dietrich, Brahms,
Grimm, and others of the circle, playing his great orchestral and choral
works with them on the pianoforte, and listening in turn to their
performances. Dietrich writes in March:
'Yesterday and the day before she went through the whole of
Schumann's "Faust" music with us. We are with her every day, and it
is impossible for me to think of leaving at present.'
Frau Schumann found congenial occupation in the summer in writing a set
of variations on the theme of her husband's Album-Blatt, Op. 99, No. 1:
[Music: etc.]
--which itself refers to the composer's early work, Op. 5, Variations on
a theme by Clara Wieck, and a touching memorial of Brahms' efforts to
assist in diverting her mind from its burden of sorrow exists in his
treatment of the same theme in his Variations for the pianoforte on a
theme of Robert Schumann, Op. 9, dedicated to Frau Clara Schumann. This
work was begun during the period of Frau Schumann's convalescence after
the birth of her seventh child on June 11. Each new variation was
brought to her as it was completed. Grimm, who remained at Düsseldorf
during these months in close companionship with Johannes, christened the
work 'Trost-Einsamkeit' (Consolation in loneliness), and remembered it
as such ever afterwards. It tells plainly enough the story of the young
composer's thoughts. It is full of references to Schumann and his
wife--notably in the ninth variation, which contains note for note
reminiscences of Schumann's Album-Blatt, Op. 99, No. 2, and in the
tenth, in which the first four bars of Clara Wieck's original theme
[Music: etc.]
are introduced by diminution into the middle voice:
[Music]
The work is astounding in its evidence of the mastery already achieved
by the young composer over the technique of variation form, in which he
uses the complicated resources of contrapuntal science with absolute
playfulness. For one illustration of this the reader may again be
referred to the tenth variation, in which the original bass of
Schumann's theme is used as the melody of the upper part and its
inversion as the bass part, whilst the original melody (quoted on p.
159) is imitated by diminution in the middle part.
[Music: etc.]
We must resist the temptation to linger over the many interesting
details of this noble work, as the aim of our pages is not a technical
one; but we may note in passing that, of the sixteen variations which it
contains, five are written in keys varying from that of the theme, a
circumstance which again brings it into a certain association with
Schumann.[48] Brahms, in his five other independent sets of variations
for pianoforte, nearly follows the practice of the earlier masters, who
confined themselves to the major and minor modes of one key.
Johannes had meanwhile, according to custom, sent the completed
manuscript of his trio to Marxsen, and had speedily received it back
again with his master's critical remarks. These he acknowledged on June
28 in a letter from which the following brief extracts are taken,
sending Marxsen, at the same time, a collection of short pieces written
at odds and ends of time, which he proposed to call 'Leaves from the
Journal of a Musician, published by the Young Kreisler.'
'Let me thank you very much for having vouchsafed such a long
letter, such a detailed examination to my trio. I will write about
the proposed little alterations when I send you the printed copy. I
have allowed the trio to lie in order to accustom myself to them.'
Asking Marxsen if he considers the pianoforte pieces worth publishing,
he adds as to the proposed title: 'What do you think of it? Doesn't it
please you? I must confess I should be sorry to strike it out.'[49] It
must be presumed that Marxsen's opinion, coinciding with that of some of
the young colleagues to whom the pieces were also shown, was
unfavourable, for they did not see the light. We shall, however, meet
with one or two of them in a few concert-programmes before long, and one
will be found to have a particular interest for English readers.
The B major Trio, published in 1854 by Breitkopf and Härtel as Op. 8,
which remained for many years but little known, has, with its beautiful
youthful qualities, long since become dear to those who have yielded
their hearts to the spell of Brahms' music. The composer's fertile fancy
has betrayed him, in the first allegro, into some episodical writing
which somewhat clouds the distinctness of outline, and impedes the
listener in his appreciation of the distinguished beauties of the
movement, and there are places in the finale where a certain
disappointment succeeds to the conviction inspired by the impetuous
opening subject; but in wealth of material, in the rare beauty of its
principal themes, and in noble sincerity of expression, the trio
occupies a distinguished place even amongst the examples of Brahms'
maturity. The scherzo with its trio are already masterly both in
conception and treatment, and in the adagio we have promise of the
deeply impressive slow movements which were moulded in ever-increasing
perfection of structure by the composer's ripening genius. That Brahms
retained an affection for this child of his young imagination is shown
by his having published a revised edition of the work so late in his
career as the year 1891. We must confess our preference for the original
version, which is consistently representative of the composer as he was
when he wrote it. The later one does not appear to us to have solved the
difficulty of successfully applying to a work of art the process of
grafting, upon the fresh, lovable immaturity of twenty-one, the
practised but less mobile experience of fifty-seven.
The trio was performed for the first time in public, to the lasting
musical distinction of America, on November 27, 1855, at William Mason's
concert of chamber music in Dodsworth's Hall, New York, by the
concert-giver, Theodor Thomas, and Carl Bergmann, to whom, therefore,
belongs the honour of having inaugurated the public performances of
Brahms' great series of works of this class. It was played, for the
second time, at Breslau on December 18 of the same year. Many years
elapsed before it was heard in England.
[Illustration: BRAHMS AND JOACHIM, 1855.]
Frau Schumann changed her residence to another in Düsseldorf in the
month of July, and immediately afterwards went with one of her young
daughters to stay with her mother in Berlin, whither Joachim also
proceeded on a visit to some of his own particular friends. Dietrich had
quitted Düsseldorf some months previously to follow prospects of success
in Leipzig; Grimm and Brahms remained behind to take charge of any
urgent tidings from Endenich. To Johannes was specially entrusted the
congenial task of arranging Schumann's books and music in the new
dwelling. This was soon accomplished to his satisfaction, as he writes
to Dietrich:
'And now I sit there the whole day and study. I have seldom felt so
happy as I do now, rummaging in this library.'
On July 19, the very day of Frau Schumann's departure, the happy news
arrived that a marked improvement had taken place in her husband's
health. He had spoken of feeling better, expressed a desire to visit his
friend Wasielewsky at Bonn; above all, had picked flowers, and evidently
wished them to be sent to his wife, whom he had not mentioned during his
illness. News and flowers were instantly despatched to Berlin, and were
received with almost overwhelming feelings of hope and longing.
'I cannot describe my feelings,' Frau Schumann writes to Dietrich
after informing him of the tidings, 'but I never knew till now how
difficult it is to bear a great happiness ... it often seems to me
as though I should lose my reason; it is too much, all that I have
gone through and that is still before me!'
She returned to Düsseldorf after about a fortnight's absence. The
succeeding movements of the party are chronicled in a letter written by
Johannes to the Amtsvogt Blume of Winsen:
'ULM, _August 16, 1854_.
'HONOURED SIR,
'You certainly think that your dear letter did not give me the
least pleasure, as I have left it so long unanswered? Ah, the time
lately has been so full of excitement that I was obliged to put it
off from day to day. Frau Schumann went with a friend on the 10th
of this month to Ostend for the benefit of her health. I, after
much persuasion, resolved to make a journey through Swabia during
her absence. I did not know how greatly I was attached to the
Schumanns, how I lived in them; everything seemed barren and empty
to me, every day I wished to turn back, and was obliged to travel
by rail in order to get quickly to a distance and forget about
turning back. It was of no use; I have come as far as Ulm, partly
on foot, partly by rail; I am going to return quickly, and would
rather wait for Frau Schumann in Düsseldorf than wander about in
the dark. When one has found such divine people as Robert and Clara
Schumann, one should stick to them and not leave them, but raise
and inspire one's self by them. The dear Schumann continues to
improve, as you have read in my letter to my parents. There has
been a great deal of gossip about his condition. I consider the
best description of him is to be found in some of the works of E.
T. A. Hoffmann (Rath Krespel, Serapion, and especially the splendid
Kreisler, etc.). He has only stripped off his body too soon.--If
you would give me pleasure, let me find a letter from you in
Ddf.--is that quite too bold? I will write to you again, and more
rationally, from there. I am writing this letter in the
waiting-room of the railway-station, which accounts for its having
become, probably, very confused.--A thousand hearty greetings to
dear Uncle Giesemann, I will write to him also from Ddf.; heartiest
greetings also to Frau Blume and your daughter. Remember with
affection
'Your JOHANNES BRAHMS.'[50]
Stopping at Bonn on his return journey to inquire after the patient at
Endenich, Brahms obtained permission to look at Schumann, himself
unseen, and from his position behind an open window was able, after he
had sufficiently controlled his first agitation, to assure himself that
the master looked well and wore the kind, tranquil mien natural to him;
and on his arrival at Düsseldorf, whom should he find there but Grimm,
who, having missed the object of a journey on which he, too, had set,
out, had likewise been to Endenich, seen Schumann, and gained an
impression of his appearance and manner similar to that which had
reassured Johannes!
Grimm left Düsseldorf in November for Hanover, and remained there till
the following year, when he accepted a post as conductor of a choral
society at Göttingen. Johannes also went north on a visit to his
parents, but for a few weeks only. The Schumanns' house had become a
second home to him, and his place in the affections of its master and
mistress that of a beloved elder son. Almost every particular that had
marked the course of his year's acquaintance with them had been of a
kind to stir his true, loving, high-strung nature to its depths.
Schumann's noble character, his quick affection for the young stranger
and unconditional acceptance of his art, the ideal relation which united
the great composer with his wife, the distinguished qualities of the
gifted woman who found her greatest happiness in consecrating her genius
to the service of her romantic love, the terrible blow which had
separated the two lives so closely linked, the sadness of the present,
the uncertainty of the future--each and all of these things had aroused
in the heart of Johannes a tumult of feeling, a poignancy of affection,
that allowed him no rest when he was out of immediate touch with the two
people who were its object. He could study to his heart's content in
Schumann's library, where books and music were unreservedly at his
disposal; could be of use to Frau Schumann, who truly valued his
sympathy and returned his affection; he was in constant communication
with Joachim, and could have as much pleasant society as he cared for.
In short, he felt that for the present his place was at Düsseldorf, and
at Düsseldorf he remained.
It was in the spring of 1854 that he made the acquaintance of Julius
Allgeyer, who, four years his senior, was at the time a student of
copper-plate engraving in Düsseldorf under Josef Keller.
'Brahms,' says Allgeyer in a letter of this date, 'has Schiller's
striking profile; his compositions sound different from everything
else known to me. He has the bad manners of a frolicsome child and
the understanding of a man.'
There was much in the circumstances and characters of the two young men
to foster an intimacy between them. Allgeyer's youth had, like that of
Johannes, been passed in struggle, and he resembled Brahms in his
restless hunger after general culture, which he endeavoured to satisfy
by constant and varied reading. The composition of Brahms' Ballades for
pianoforte, Op. 10, which belongs to this time, has a direct association
with Allgeyer, to whom the young musician was indebted for his
acquaintance with Herder's 'Stimmen der Völker,' the volume containing a
translation of the Scotch ballad 'Edward' that inspired the first of the
pieces in question. Brahms' memory for such details is well illustrated
by his dedication to Allgeyer of the Lieder und Romanzen for two voices,
with pianoforte accompaniment, Op. 75, published in 1878, the first
number of which is a setting of 'Edward.' Another avowed instance of his
partiality for Herder's collection is to be found in a still later work,
No. 1 of the three Intermezzi for pianoforte, Op. 117, and it may be
surmised that the book contains the secret key to the composer's
thoughts during the writing of more than one other of the short pieces
for pianoforte designated by the general name of 'Intermezzo' or
'Capriccio.'
Brahms and Allgeyer remained intimate, though with intervals of some
estrangement--if this be not too strong a term to express a temporary
cessation of intercourse without alleged cause--until Brahms' death; and
Allgeyer, who was introduced by Johannes to Frau Schumann, came to be
regarded by her as belonging to the circle of her valued friends.[51]
Schumann's desire that his young protégé should apply his powerful ideal
gifts and his skill in the handling of form to the composition of an
orchestral work had not been disregarded by Brahms. He had tried his
hand at an overture early in the year, and had worked through the spring
and summer at a symphony, making his first attempts at instrumentation
with the help of Grimm. It could not be otherwise than that the rapid
succession of extraordinary events and vivid emotions which had agitated
his spirit should prove a strong stimulus to his imagination; and it is
not surprising to find that they moved him to the composition of a
series of movements, two of which remain amongst the most powerful
produced by him, one having been accepted by thousands of mourners all
the world over as the most fitting musical expression known to them in
the presence of profound grief. The symphony, as such, was never
completed, but the work was thrown into the form of a sonata for two
pianofortes, of which the first two movements have become known to the
world as the first and second of the Pianoforte Concerto in D minor, and
the third is immortalized in the 'Behold all Flesh,' the wonderful march
movement in three-four time of the German Requiem. Brahms frequently
played the sonata in private at this period with Frau Schumann or Grimm.
The two sets of Variations on Schumann's theme were published
simultaneously, by Brahms' desire, in the autumn, with his Songs, Op. 7,
dedicated to Dietrich, and the B major Trio; the variations by Johannes
appearing as his Op. 9. The song 'Mondnacht' also appeared this year,
without opus number, in a book of 'Album-Blätter' published at
Göttingen.
The improvement in Schumann's condition went on so steadily that on
September 13, the thirty-fifth anniversary of his wife's birthday, he
was permitted to receive a letter from her. It contains no allusion to
Brahms, but brings Schumann's tenderness in his home relationships so
vividly before the mind that a short extract from it will, we think, be
welcomed by the reader:[52]
'ENDENICH, _Sept. 14, 1854_.
'How I rejoiced, beloved Clara, to see your handwriting. High
thanks for having written to me on such a day, and that you and the
dear children still remember me. Greet and kiss the little ones!
Oh, if I could see you and speak to you again, but the way is too
far. So much I should like to know; how your life is going on;
where you are living and if you still play as gloriously as
formerly; if Marie and Elise continue to make progress, if they
still sing also--if you still have the Klems pianoforte [a present
from Schumann to his wife], where my collection of scores is (the
printed ones) and what has become of the manuscripts (such as the
Requiem, the Sänger's Fluch); where our album is, containing
autographs of Goethe, Jean Paul, Mozart, Beethoven, Weber, and many
letters addressed to you and me.'
On the 18th he writes:
'What joyful news you have again sent me ... that Brahms, to whom
you will give my kind and admiring greetings, has come to live in
Düsseldorf; what friendship! If you would like to know whose is my
favourite name, you will no doubt guess his, the unforgettable
one!... If you write to Joachim, greet him. What have Brahms and
Joachim been composing? Is the overture to Hamlet published? Has he
finished anything else? You write that you are giving your lessons
in the pianoforte-room. Who are the present pupils? Who the best?
Are you not doing too much, dear Clara?'
He goes on to recall the happiness of the journeys made in his wife's
company, begs that their double portrait may be sent him, would like
some money, in order to be able to give to the poor people whom he
meets in his walks, wants a list of his children's birthdays.
A week later, September 26, he says:
'What you write about ... has given me the greatest pleasure. So
also about Brahms and Joachim and their compositions. I am
surprised that Brahms is working at counterpoint which does not
seem like him. I should like to make acquaintance with Joachim's
three pieces for pianoforte and viola. I can remember de Laurens'
portrait of Brahms, but not the one of me. Thank you for the
children's birthday dates. Who are to be sponsors for the little
one, and in what church is he to be baptized?...'
In October he acknowledges the arrival of Brahms' variations, sent him
by his wife:
'DEAREST CLARA,
'What pleasure you have again given me! Your letter and Julie's,
Brahms' variations on the theme which you have varied, the three
volumes of Arnim Brentano's Wunherhorn.... I remember Herr Grimm
very well, we used to be together with Brahms and Joachim at the
railway-station [in Hanover]; greet him and above all Fräulein
Leser. I shall write to Brahms myself....'
That this renewal of intercourse with her husband cheered and encouraged
Frau Schumann for the performance of her arduous public duties during
the autumn season will be readily believed. Under the necessity of a
heavily increased weight of responsibility to her young children, she
had bound herself to the fulfilment of a long list of concert
engagements, which scarcely allowed her an interval of rest. Happily,
the reports from Endenich continued favourable. Joachim, writing to
Liszt on November 16, says:
'What a happiness it is that Schumann's condition is distinctly
improved. I had a letter from him from Endenich lately. He relates
some of our common experiences quite clearly, expressing himself in
a kind, gentle way as though he had just awakened from a dream.
Everything seems new to him, and he would like to participate in
what is going on; asks about compositions, about friends; one may
certainly hope for the best.'
On November 27, having had time to study Brahms' variations, he writes,
in the course of a letter to his wife:
'The variations of Johannes delighted me at first sight and do so
still more on deeper acquaintance. I shall myself write also to
Brahms; does his portrait by de Laurens still hang in my study? He
is the most attractive and gifted young fellow. I recall with
delight the splendid impression he made that first time with his C
major Sonata, and afterwards with the F sharp minor Sonata and the
Scherzo in E flat minor. Oh, if I could only hear him again! I
should like his ballades also.'
To Brahms, enclosed in the above:
'Could I but come to you myself, to see you again and to hear your
splendid variations, or [to hear them] from my Clara of whose
wonderful interpretation Joachim has written to me. How
incomparably the whole is rounded off, how one recognises you in
the rich brightness of the imagination and again in the profound
art, united as I have not yet known them. The theme emerging here
and there, but very secretly, then so vehement and tender. The
theme then quite vanishing, and at the end, after the fourteenth
[variation], so ingeniously written in canon in the second; how
splendid is the fifteenth in G flat major, and the last. And I have
to thank you, dear Johannes, for all your kindness and goodness to
my Clara; she always writes to me about it. She sent me yesterday
to my pleasure, as you perhaps know, volumes of my compositions and
Jean Paul's Flegeljahre. Now I hope soon to see your handwriting,
however great a treasure it is to me, in another form also. The
winter is fairly mild. You know the Bonn neighbourhood. I enjoy
Beethoven's statue and the beautiful view of the Siebengebirge. We
saw each other last in Hanover. Only write soon to
'Your affectionate and appreciative
'R. SCHUMANN.'
Brahms' answer speaks for itself:
'HAMBURG, _2 December 1854_.
'MOST BELOVED FRIEND,
'How can I describe to you my pleasure at your dear letter! You
have already so often made me happy when you have remembered me so
affectionately in the letters to your wife, and now I have a
letter belonging entirely to myself. It is the first I have had
from you; I value it beyond measure. Unfortunately I received it in
Hamburg, where I had come to visit my parents; I would much rather
have received it from the hand of your wife.
'I expect to return to Düsseldorf in a few days; I long to be
there.
'The overmuch praise which you bestow on my variations fills me
with happiness. I have been studying your works industriously since
the spring; how much I should like to hear your praise of them
also! I have passed this year since springtime at Düsseldorf; I
shall never forget it, I have learned all the time to love you and
your glorious wife more and more.
'I have never yet looked forward so cheerfully and confidently,
never believed so firmly in a splendid future as now. How I wish it
were near, and nearer still the happy time when you will be quite
restored to us.
'I cannot then leave you any more; I shall try to earn more and
more of your dear friendship.
'Good-bye, and think of me with affection.
'Your warmly venerating JOHANNES BRAHMS.
'My parents and your friends here think of you with the greatest
veneration and love. The parents, Herr Marxsen, Otten, and Avé,
particularly beg me to give you their most cordial greetings.'[53]
About the middle of the month Schumann wrote again to Johannes:
'ENDENICH, _December 1854_.
'DEAR FRIEND,
'If I could but come to you at Christmas! Meanwhile I have received
your portrait from my dear wife, your familiar portrait, and I know
the place in my room quite well, quite well--under the mirror. I am
still refreshing myself with your variations; I should like to hear
several of them from you and my Clara; I am not completely master
of them; especially the second, the fourth not up to time and the
fifth not; but the eighth (and the slower ones) and the ninth--A
reminiscence of which Clara wrote to me is probably on p. 14; what
is it from? a song?[54]--and the twelfth----Oh, if I could only
hear you!'
The andante and scherzo from Brahms' F minor Sonata, Op. 5, were
included by Frau Schumann in several of her programmes of the season,
and, though received with indifference by the general public, were, on
the whole, noticed encouragingly by the press. The _Vossische Zeitung_
of Berlin dismissed the movements as wanting in clearness and
simplicity, but the _National Zeitung_ of the same city pronounced that
the sonata, associating itself with the school of Schumann, gave
evidence of eminent creative power, and a Frankfurt critic wrote:
'Frau Schumann deserves high commendation for introducing Brahms'
compositions to the public with her master-hand, and thereby
preparing the way for their general acceptance.'
Joachim, who was frequently Frau Schumann's artistic colleague during
the season, giving concerts with her in various parts of Germany, spent
the Christmas festival with his friends in Düsseldorf, making time on
his way thither to call at Bonn to get news of Schumann. To his joy, he
was admitted to the first interview with a personal friend allowed to
the patient since his residence at Endenich. The impression he derived
was reassuring to a certain extent, and there was comfort in the mere
fact that he had seen and conversed with Schumann. A touching picture of
the little gathering in Düsseldorf of those who stood first in the
affections of the great composer is given in Brahms' next letter to him:
'MOST HONOURED FRIEND,
'I should like to write a great deal about the Christmas evening,
which was made so happy to us by Joachim's news; how he told us
about you the whole evening and your wife wept so quietly. We were
filled with joyful hope that we may soon be able to see you again.
'You always turn the days which would otherwise be days of mourning
for us, into high festivals. On her birthday your wife was allowed
to write you the first letter. At Christmas a friend first talked
with you, the only one to whom we should not grudge this happiness,
but only desire for ourselves to be allowed to succeed him soon.
'On the first day of the festival your wife gave her presents. She
will now be writing to tell you about it; how well Marie played
your A minor Sonata with Joachim, and Elise the Kinderscenen, and
how she delighted me with Jean Paul's complete works. I had not
hoped to be able to call them my own for many years. Joachim got
the scores of your symphonies, which your wife had already given
me.
'I returned here the evening before Christmas; how long the
separation from your wife seemed to me! I had so accustomed myself
to her inspiring society, I had lived near her so delightfully all
the summer and learned to admire and love her so much, that
everything seemed flat to me, and I could only long to see her
again. What nice things I have brought back with me from Hamburg,
however! The score of Gluck's Alcestis (the Italian edition, 1776)
from Herr Avé, your first dear letter to me and several from your
beloved wife. I must thank you most warmly for a pleasant word in
your last letter, for the affectionate "thou"; your kind wife also
makes me happy now by using the nice, intimate word; it is the
highest proof to me of her favour; I will try always to deserve it
more.
'I had a great deal to write to you, dearest friend, but it would
probably only be a repetition of what your wife is writing,
therefore I conclude with the warmest handshake and greeting. Your
'JOHANNES.
'DÜSSELDORF, _30 December, 1854_.'
Frau Schumann, having before her the fatigues of a concert-journey in
Holland, allowed herself a brief rest during the early part of January,
and was cheered by the most encouraging letters from her husband. He
wrote on the 6th:
'... I wish also to thank you most particularly, my Clara, for the
artist letters and Johannes for the sonata and ballades.[55] I know
them now. The sonata--I remember to have heard it once from
him--so profoundly grasped; living, deep, and warm throughout, and
so closely woven together. And the ballades--the first wonderful,
quite new; only I do not understand the _doppio movimento_ either
in this or the second, is it not too fast?[56] The close
beautiful--original! The second how different, how diversified, how
suggestive to the imagination; magical tones are in it. The bass F
sharp at the end seems to lead to the third ballade. What shall we
call this? Demoniacal--quite splendid, and becoming more and more
mysterious after the _pp_ in the trio. And the return and close!
Has this ballade made a similar impression on you, my Clara? In the
fourth ballade how beautifully the strange melody vacillates at the
close between minor and major, and remains mournfully in the major.
Now on to overtures and symphonies! Do you not like this, my Clara,
better than organ? A symphony or opera, which arouses enthusiasm
and makes a great sensation, brings everything else more quickly
forward. He must. Now greet Johannes warmly and the children, and
you, my dearest heart, remember your, as of old, loving
'ROBERT.'
Brahms was permitted to follow Joachim, and paid the master a visit of
several hours' duration, in the course of which he played both to and
with him. At its close Schumann walked back to Bonn with his dear young
friend, and could not make up his mind to part with him. Johannes tore
himself away just in time to catch his train, and wrote a few days
afterwards:
'DEAR HONOURED FRIEND,
'I must thank you myself for the great pleasure you give me by the
dedication of your splendid concertstück.[57] How I rejoice to see
my name thus printed! Especially, too, that I, like Joachim, have a
concerto of my own.[58] We have often talked of the two works and
which we like best--we have not been able to decide.
'I think with joy of the short hours that I was allowed to spend
with you, they were so delightful--but passed so quickly. I cannot
tell your wife enough about them; it makes me doubly glad that you
received me with such friendship and kindness, and that you still
think of the hour with so much affection.
'We shall be able to see you thus more and more frequently and
pleasantly till we possess you again.
'I have taken the catalogue (chronological), as you wished, to your
copyist (Fuchs).
'I expect you would like the original of Jenny Lind's letter. It is
probably the handwriting that you want. I need not write out the
contents for you.
'We are sending Bargiel's new work, it will give you great
pleasure, as it does us; Op. 8 is a great advance upon Op. 9. Both
are dedicated to your wife; that is what I should like to do
always. I should like to take turns with the names Joachim and
Clara Schumann till I had courage to add your name. That, probably,
will not soon come to me.
'Now good-bye, dear man, and think sometimes with affection of your
'JOHANNES.
'DÜSSELDORF, _in January 1855_.'
'Do you remember that you encouraged me last winter to write an
overture to "Romeo"? For the rest, I have been trying my hand at a
symphony during the past summer, have even instrumented the first
movement and composed the second and third.'
During the entire winter, the devotion to Frau Schumann, through which
Joachim and Brahms were alike eager to express their veneration for the
beloved master in his awful trial, was shared between them in the most
practical way. Joachim remained her constant artistic companion after
her return from Holland, and the success achieved by the two great
musicians on the innumerable occasions of their giving concerts
together, during this and the following season, was extraordinary and
unvarying. Johannes remained at Düsseldorf to attend to Schumann's
little requirements, and to send cheery news of all that was going on
at home to the anxious wife and mother. In February he writes to
Endenich:
'DEAR HONOURED FRIEND,
'Herewith I send you the things you wished for; a necktie and the
_Signale_. I must be responsible for the first; as your wife is in
Berlin, I had to decide. I only hope you will like it, and that it
is not too high?
'I also send you the _Signale_; some of the numbers are missing, we
have not been careful enough about them. From this time forward you
shall have them regularly.
'I can now already give you the most positive assurance that Herr
Arnold has had your proof of the "Gesänge der Frühe." There must be
some other reason for his having delayed the publication so long.
'I wonder if the long walk with me did you good? I expect so. With
what pleasure I think of the delightful day; I have seldom been so
perfectly happy! Your dear wife was very much calmed and pacified
by my blissful letter.
'I am entrusted with many greetings to you from all your friends
here. I will particularly mention those from your children and
Fräulein Bertha.[59]
'May all go well with you, and may you often think with affection
of your
'JOHANNES.
'DÜSSELDORF, _in February 1855_.'
Another letter follows early in March:
'HONOURED MASTER,
'You will have wondered very much that I wrote of an F sharp minor
Sonata which was to be sent you with the other things, and none was
there. I quite forgot to put it up this morning. I send it you now
with the songs and choruses from "Maria Stuart." I think you will
like to have them; you have often mentioned them.
'Your wife just writes to me, quite delighted with your letter.
She is going to send you some beautiful music-paper. I was
certainly quick, but not so particular. Only women do everything
quickly and well at the same time.
'With warmest greetings, Your
'JOHANNES BRAHMS.
'DÜSSELDORF, _March, 1855_.'
Of the F sharp minor Sonata, Op. 2, Schumann answers:
'Your second sonata, my dear, has brought me much nearer to you. It
was quite new to me; I live in your music, so that I can half play
it at sight, one movement after the other. I am thankful for this.
The beginning, the _pp_, the whole movement--there has never been
one like it. Andante and the variations and the scherzo following
them, quite different from those in the others; and the finale, the
sostenuto, the music at the beginning of the second part, the
animato and the close--in short, a laurel wreath for the
from-elsewhere-coming Johannes. And the songs, the first one; I
seemed to know the second; but the third--it has (at the beginning)
a melody in which there are many good girls, and the splendid
close. The fourth quite original. In the fifth such beautiful
music--like the poem. The sixth quite different from the others.
The rushing, rustling melody-harmony pleases me.'
To Joachim, Schumann writes on March 10:
'Your letter has put me into quite a happy mood. The great gaps in
your artistic cultivation, and the so-called violinist's eye and
the address; nothing could have amused me more. Then I recalled the
Hamlet overture, Henry overture, Lindenrauschen, Abendglocken,
Ballade--books for viola and pianoforte--the remarkable pieces
which you played with Clara one evening at the hotel in
Hanover;[60] and as I went on thinking I began this letter....
Johannes has sent me last year's _Signale_, to my great pleasure,
for everything that has happened since February 20 was new to me.
There has never been such a musical winter [1853-54] as that and
the following; such travelling and flying from town to town, Frau
Schroeder-Devrient, Jenny Lind, Clara, Wilhelmine Claus....'
Thus the months passed on. At the close of Frau Schumann's
concert-season Johannes travelled with her to Hamburg, in response to
an invitation from Capellmeister Otten, a well-known musician of the
city, to be present at a performance of Schumann's 'Manfred' at his
subscription concert of April 21. They passed a day at Hanover on their
return journey, and on May 7, Brahms' twenty-second birthday
anniversary, were joined at Düsseldorf by Joachim, who had promised to
make his headquarters near them this season during the period of his
'free time'--free from the fixed duties of his post in Hanover--which,
according to his contract, extended till the month of October.
Brahms' birthday-presents included the manuscript of a romance for the
pianoforte composed for him by Frau Schumann, and from the master the
score of his overture to 'The Bride of Messina,' both with affectionate
inscriptions. The following letter of thanks was the last written by him
to Endenich:
'BELOVED, HONOURED FRIEND,
'I must send you most heartfelt thanks for having remembered me so
affectionately on May 7. How surprised and delighted I was by the
beautiful present and the loving words in the book!
'The day was altogether such a delightful one as one does not often
experience. Your dear wife understands how to give happiness. You,
however, know this better than anyone.
'A portrait of my mother and sister surprised me. In the afternoon
Joachim came, we hope for a very long time.
'I heard the overture to "The Bride of Messina" the other day in
Hamburg, as you know. How much the deeply-earnest work took hold of
me, and after "Manfred"! I was wishing all the time that you were
there to hear and see what joy you give by your splendid works.
'I have been longing for some time past to hear especially
"Manfred" or "Faust." I hope we shall hear the last, greatest,
together some time.
'Only your long silence, which made us uneasy, could have kept me
from sending you my thanks sooner; accept now the heartiest thanks
for your dear remembrance on May 7, 1855.
'In hearty love and veneration,
'Your JOHANNES.'
[44] Bülow's 'Briefe und Schriften.' Edited by Marie von Bülow.
[45] Two overtures on which Joachim was working.
[46] This and all other extracts from Dietrich are taken from his
well-known 'Recollections of Brahms.'
[47] From the original letter, presented by Dr. Joachim to the author.
[48] _Cf._ Schumann's great variations: the 'Etudes Symphoniques.'
[49] Sittard's 'Künstler-Charakteristiken.'
[50] See footnote on p. 117.
[51] Professor Carl Neumann's introduction to the second edition (1904)
of Allgeyer's 'Life of Anselm Feuerbach.'
[52] This and the following letters written by Schumann at Endenich were
first published by Edward Hanslick in the _Neue Freie Presse_ of October
27 and 29, 1896, and afterwards republished in Hanslick's 'Am Ende des
Jahrhunderts' (Robert Schumann in Endenich).
[53] See footnote on p. 131.
[54] The introduction by diminution of Clara Wieck's theme mentioned on
p. 160.
[55] In manuscript: Ballades for Pianoforte, Op. 10.
[56] The _doppio movimento_ marked in the manuscript of the first
ballade was changed before publication to _allegro ma non troppo_, no
doubt in deference to Schumann's suggestion.
[57] Concert-allegro with Introduction for Pianoforte and Orchestra, Op.
134.
[58] Fantasia for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 131, dedicated to Joachim.
[59] Fräulein Bertha Bölling, a young lady who was resident for some
years in the Schumanns' house as domestic help to Frau Schumann, to whom
she was greatly attached, and in whose confidence she stood high. During
the first few days of Schumann's illness, before his removal to
Endenich, she was allowed by the doctors to go in and out of the
sick-room, and her presence had a tranquillizing effect on the patient.
[60] Joachim's compositions.