Public-domain ebook
by Florence May
Language: en1,266 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: Biographies·Music
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #40643.
Florence May’s work is a scholarly biography of the German composer Johannes Brahma, presented in two volumes. The opening pages explain that the author has been asked to insert personal recollections of her early acquaintance with Brahms, a relationship that began when she was a young piano student. She therefore places those memories in a prefatory chapter, noting that they were previously published in the Musical Magazine and corroborated by letters to her mother. After the dedication, the book proceeds with a detailed table of contents that maps Brahms’s life from his family background in 1760‑1845 through his formative years, early public concerts, and pivotal encounters with figures such as Schumann, Liszt, and Joachim, up to his later career in Vienna. The introductory “Personal Recollections” section begins with a vivid account of May’s arrival in Baden‑Baden, her first meeting with Brahms at Clara Schumann’s house, and a meticulous description of his appearance, habits, and temperament.
The narrative voice is that of a contemporary witness, written in a formal, early‑20th‑century style that blends personal memoir with rigorous documentation. May’s prose is detailed and measured, reflecting the scholarly conventions of her era while retaining the immediacy of her own observations. Readers who appreciate thorough biographical research, especially those interested in 19th‑century music history, the social circles of Brahms, and primary‑source accounts of his personality, will find this volume rewarding. It is particularly suited to musicologists, students of Romantic-era composers, and general readers who enjoy a blend of factual chronology with intimate anecdote.
The opening · free to read
H.R.H. Alexander Frederick, Landgraf of Hesse. Herr Carl Bade. Fräulein Berninger. Mrs. Jellings Blow (b. Finke). Fräulein Theodore Blume. Frau Professor Böie. Herr Professor Dr. Heinrich Bulthaupt. Herr Professor Julius Buths. The late Gerard F. Cobb, Esq. Frederic R. Comec, Esq. Herr Hugo Conrat. Fräulein Ilse Conrat. Fräulein Johanna Cossel. Frau Elise Denninghoff-Giesemann. Herr Geheimrath Dr. Hermann Deiters. Herr Hofcapellmeister Albert Dietrich. Herr k. k. Hofclavierfabrikant Friedrich Ehrbar. Herr Geheimrath Dr. Engelmann. Herr Professor Julius Epstein. Fräulein Anna Ettlinger. Frau Dr. Maria Fellinger. Herr Professor Dr. Josef Gänsbacher. Otto Goldschmidt, Esq., Hon. R.A.M., Member of Swedish A.M., etc. Dr. Josef Ritter Griez von Ronse. Herr Carl Graf. Fräulein Marie Grimm. Frau Grüber. Herr Professor Robert Hausmann. Fräulein Heyden. Herr Professor Walter Hübbe. Herr Dr. Gustav Jansen. Frau Dr. Marie Janssen. Herr Professor Dr. Joseph Joachim. Frau Dr. Louise Langhans-Japha. Mrs. Johann Kruse. Herr Carl Lüstner. J. A. Fuller Maitland, Esq., F.S.A. Herr Dr. Eusebius Mandyczewski, Archivar to the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde. Carl Freiherr von Meysenbug. Hermann Freiherr von Meysenbug. Herr Richard Mühlfeld, Hofkammermusiker. Herr Professor Dr. Ernst Naumann. Herr Professor Dr. Carl Neumann. Herr Christian Otterer. Fräulein Henriette Reinthaler. Herr Capellmeister Dr. Rottenberg. Herr Kammermusiker Julius Schmidt. Herr Fritz Schnack. Herr Professor Dr. Bernhard Scholz. Herr Heinrich Schröder. Fräulein Marie Schumann. Frau Simons (b. Kyllmann). Herr Professor Josef Sittard. Herr Dr. Julius Spengel. Mrs. Edward Speyer. Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, Mus. Doc. Mrs. Edward Stone. Frau Celestine Truxa. Herr Superintendent Vogelsang. Herr Dr. Josef Victor Widmann.
And others who prefer that their names should not be expressly mentioned.
F. M.
SOUTH KENSINGTON, September, 1905.
CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
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