The Great Composers Podcast - a classical music podcast

Ep. 35 - In April 1853, Johannes Brahms left Hamburg with the Hungarian violinist Eduard Reményi for a short concert tour of North German towns. After performing in small venues and for small crowds t...

In this special episode "Antonio Stradivari, and the Violin Makers of Cremona" we explore the lives of Cremona's greatest violin makers. Cremona's violin making tradition began with Andrea Amati in th...

Stay healthy and well! Ep. 37 – In late 1853, having impressed important musicians across Germany, especially Robert and Clara Schumann, Johannes Brahms planned for the publication of his first opuse...

In Ep. 38 we pick up with Johannes Brahms and Clara Schumann in the weeks following Robert Schumann's death in July 1856, trying to make sense of their relationship and love. They have a crucial, incr...

I'm pleased to welcome to the show Rebecca Smithorn, cover conductor and lecturer with the National Philharmonic. Rebecca is host of the NatPhil's YouTube series "Composers in Crisis" which takes a lo...

In ep. 40 we find Johannes Brahms struggling to recover and learn from the defeat of his D minor Piano Concerto at Leipzig's Gewandhaus in January 1859. Despite nearing mastery in his craft and the un...

In Ep. 41 Johannes Brahms continues his toil, conducing the ladies' choir, playing concerts, and composing; working to build a life and career brick by brick with the sweat of his brow and the help of...

Ep. 42(a) - It is late November 1862. We find Johannes Brahms in Vienna making a great success of himself for once but reeling from a devastating blow given him by the musical establishment of Hamburg...

Ep 42(b) - It is early 1865. Brahms's mother has just passed away. Filled with emotion he grudgingly moves from winter to spring, entering a long period of deep and private mourning during which he wo...

Ep. 43 – It is Good Friday, April 10, 1868 in Bremen and Brahms has just finished giving the premiere of his German Requiem. It is a complete triumph but one not celebrated with wild applause, the wor...