Johannes Brahms was a man quite in awe of the legacy of Beethoven. He was a composer who initially thought himself unworthy to carry on in the footsteps of the giant even though that was the road he instinctively wanted to travel.
At first, young Johannes took an easy detour, as accompanist to the Hungarian violinist Eduard Reményi. It was Reményi who arranged an introduction to violinist Joseph Joachim, who in turn urged Brahms to present himself to Robert Schumann and his pianist wife Clara, in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Greeted warmly by the two distinguished musicians, Brahms at age 20 proceeded to overwhelm them by his playing of his earliest piano works — the first two piano sonatas (C major and F-sharp minor) and the E-flat-minor Scherzo. The Schumanns found in his playing the same extraordinary qualities that had so impressed Joachim.
About Brahms’ compositions themselves, Schumann’s enthusiasm knew no bounds. “One has come from whom we may expect all kinds of wonders. His name is Johannes Brahms,” was only one of the older composer’s effusive statements in a lengthy article he wrote about the gifted youth.
Still, Brahms was aware of the giant (Beethoven) whom the Viennese public worshiped. So Brahms concluded the he needed to approach orchestral work with some respect and caution.
As a “practice” toward that goal, Brahms composed two Serenades with a somewhat reduced instrumental group in order to work on how he would develop his own orchestral sound.
Even though this was quite early in Brahms career, amazing and delightful music emerged. Here are the sounds of Brahms’ Serenade #2:
