Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1896) Click Here for Brahms' music
Brahms composed in every genre except opera. He was a more traditional composer who,
while writing romantic music, adhered more to the musical forms of the Classical Era than his
contemporaries. Nonetheless, he was innovative in several ways. Brahms was also a virtuoso
pianist who premiered many of his works. For fans of Beethoven's music, he may be the Late
German composer whose music is the most attractive. His Symphony No. 1 is popularly known
as "Beethoven's 10th."
Richard Wagner (1813-1877) A List of Wagner's Stage Works
Wagner was one of the greatest opera composers ever. Starting with his opera
Tristan und Isolde (1857-59), his innovations in orchestration influenced many later
composers of orchestra music.
Wagner's greatest achievment is Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the
Nibelung), a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed over a 26
year period. The four operas are: Das Rheingold (The Rhinegold) (1869), Die Walküre
(The Valkyrie) (1870), Siegfried (1876), and Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods)
(1876).
The Ring Without Words (orchestral extracts, 75 minutes) Play
Max Bruch (1838 - 1920) Bruch's only famous works:
Violin Concerto No. 1 (1866) Play, 27 minutes Joshua Bell, violin
Scottish Fantasy (1880) Play, 32 min Stephan Jackiw, violin
Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) A List of Bruckner's Symphonies
Bruckner is known primarily for his nine symphonies. He also wrote over 100 choral works.
Symphony No. 7 (1881-83, rev. 1884) Play, 70 min.
Symphony No. 8 (1887, rev. 1890) Play, 82 min
Symphony No. 9 (3 movements completed by Bruckner's death in 1896) Play, 75 min
Gustave Mahler (1844-1908) List of Mahler's Compositions
Mahler was Austrian and the most famous Jewish composer following Felix
Mendelssohn. He is almost wholly known for his nine symphonies and several lieder
cycle sets, with Rückert-Lieder (5 songs), Kindertotenlieder (Songs on the Deaths
of Children, 5 songs) both from 1901–04, and Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of
the Earth) from 1808-09 the most popular. He was also one of the most important
conductors of his day.
Symphony No. 2 (1892-94) Play, 90 min
Symphony No. 4 (1899-1900) Play, 58 min
Symphony No. 5 (1901-02) Play, 75 min
Symphony No. 6 "Tragic" (1903-04) Play, 84 min
Symphony No. 9 (1908-09) Play, 90 min
Richard Strauss (1864-1949) Strauss' 10 Symphonic Poems Strauss' Operas
Richard Strauss is best known for his operas and symphonic poems (which he
called "tone poems"). Among his 13 operas Salome (1905), Elektra (1909), Der
Rosenkavalier (1911), and Ariadne auf Naxos (1912) are usually considered his best.
Symphonic Poems:
Don Juan (1888) Play, 20 min
Tod und Verklärung (Death and Transfiguration) (1889) Play, 24 min
Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche (Till Eulenspeigel's Merry Pranks) (1895) Play, 16 min
Also sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spoke Zarathustra) (1896) Play, 37 min
Don Quixote (1897) Play, 44 min
Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life) (1898) Play, 50 min
Symphonia Domestica (1903) Play, 44 min
Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony) (1915) Play, 54 min
1. Night 2. Sunrise 3. The Ascent 4. Entry into the Forest 5. Wandering by the Brook
The phrase "New German school" is a bit of a misnomer. It has its anticedents in the
orchestra music of French composer Hector Berlioz and Hungarian Franz Liszt. Starting
c. 1860, their new aesthetic directions drew the contempt of more conservative German
musicians like Brahms, Clara Schumann, Joseph Joachim, and the Leipzig Conservatory
founded by Felix Mendelssohn (Mendelssohn was dead before the feud began). The
arguments became known as the War of the Romantics.
While the issues are problematic and are still debated by music scholars, some of the
obvious differences are: 1) much longer works (Wagner's operas could run fours; Bruckner
and Mahler symphonies ranged from 60 to 90 minutes; 2) larger orchestras; 3) more volatile
emotions drawn through more frequent use of dissonance, chromaticism, and sustained chord
Richard Wagner (1813-1877) A List of Wagner's Stage Works
Wagner was one of the greatest opera composers ever. Starting with his opera
Tristan und Isolde (1857-59), his innovations in orchestration influenced many later
composers of orchestra music.
Wagner's greatest achievment is Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the
Nibelung), a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed over a 26
year period. The four operas are: Das Rheingold (The Rhinegold) (1869), Die Walküre
(The Valkyrie) (1870), Siegfried (1876), and Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods)
(1876).
The Ring Without Words (orchestral extracts, 75 minutes) Play
Max Bruch (1838 - 1920) Bruch's only famous works:
Violin Concerto No. 1 (1866) Play, 27 minutes Joshua Bell, violin
Scottish Fantasy (1880) Play, 32 min Stephan Jackiw, violin
Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) A List of Bruckner's Symphonies
Bruckner is known primarily for his nine symphonies. He also wrote over 100 choral works.
Symphony No. 7 (1881-83, rev. 1884) Play, 70 min.
Symphony No. 8 (1887, rev. 1890) Play, 82 min
Symphony No. 9 (3 movements completed by Bruckner's death in 1896) Play, 75 min
Gustave Mahler (1844-1908) List of Mahler's Compositions
Mahler was Austrian and the most famous Jewish composer following Felix
Mendelssohn. He is almost wholly known for his nine symphonies and several lieder
cycle sets, with Rückert-Lieder (5 songs), Kindertotenlieder (Songs on the Deaths
of Children, 5 songs) both from 1901–04, and Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of
the Earth) from 1808-09 the most popular. He was also one of the most important
conductors of his day.
Symphony No. 2 (1892-94) Play, 90 min
Symphony No. 4 (1899-1900) Play, 58 min
Symphony No. 5 (1901-02) Play, 75 min
Symphony No. 6 "Tragic" (1903-04) Play, 84 min
Symphony No. 9 (1908-09) Play, 90 min
Richard Strauss (1864-1949) Strauss' 10 Symphonic Poems Strauss' Operas
Richard Strauss is best known for his operas and symphonic poems (which he
called "tone poems"). Among his 13 operas Salome (1905), Elektra (1909), Der
Rosenkavalier (1911), and Ariadne auf Naxos (1912) are usually considered his best.
Symphonic Poems:
Don Juan (1888) Play, 20 min
Tod und Verklärung (Death and Transfiguration) (1889) Play, 24 min
Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche (Till Eulenspeigel's Merry Pranks) (1895) Play, 16 min
Also sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spoke Zarathustra) (1896) Play, 37 min
Don Quixote (1897) Play, 44 min
Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life) (1898) Play, 50 min
Symphonia Domestica (1903) Play, 44 min
Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony) (1915) Play, 54 min
1. Night 2. Sunrise 3. The Ascent 4. Entry into the Forest 5. Wandering by the Brook
6. At the Waterfall .... (22 in all)
Three very late works:
Horn Concerto No. 2 (1942) Play, 22 min
Oboe Concerto (1945) Play, 46 min
Metamorphosen, Study for 23 Strings (1945) Play - 27 minutes