Table of Contents

Introduction
List of Abbreviations
Part I:Prelude 1833-1852
Part II:One Fateful Year 1853
Part III:Turmoil and Apprenticeship 1854-1858
Part IV:In Hamburg Again 1859-1862
Part V:In Vienna, Sometimes 1863-1870
Part VI:At Home in Vienna 1871-1876
Part VII:Independence 1877-1890
Part VIII:The Final Years 1891-1897
Appendices
A. Johannes Brahms and Clara Schumann
B. List of Correspondents
C. Bibliographical Sketches
D. Biographical Dates
E. Sources
F. Brahms Opuses mentioned in the Letters
Bibliography
General Index

About the Author

Avins studied cello at the Juilliard School of Music and has a Master's Degree in Cello from the Manhattan School of Music. Eisinger (Avins's husband) is a scientist and writer.

Reviews

Styra Avins's massive selected letters, scrupulously translated in collaboration with Josef Eisinger has rapidly established itself as the classic text, with her linking narrative and annotations virtually doubling as a biography BBC Music Magazine Occasionally a book comes along which changes perceptions of its subject. This is such a book. Her annotations are not only scholarly but often witty and always full of common sense Michael Kennedy, Sunday Telegraph Delightful and absorbing. It is going to become an absolutely central work of reference: I expect to be using it for the rest of my life Calum MacDonald, BBC Music Magazine

Styra Avins's massive selected letters, scrupulously translated in collaboration with Josef Eisinger has rapidly established itself as the classic text, with her linking narrative and annotations virtually doubling as a biography BBC Music Magazine Occasionally a book comes along which changes perceptions of its subject. This is such a book. Her annotations are not only scholarly but often witty and always full of common sense Michael Kennedy, Sunday Telegraph Delightful and absorbing. It is going to become an absolutely central work of reference: I expect to be using it for the rest of my life Calum MacDonald, BBC Music Magazine

Avins, a cellist and musicologist at Drew University, has filled a conspicuous lacuna in Brahms scholarship, as no general collection of Brahms's letters had ever before been translated into English. Avins, who completed the editing of this massive tome in time for the centennial of Brahms's death, acknowledges at the outset that the composer was a reluctant letter-writer. Among the 564 letters in this volume, one will not find passages of great literary beauty, nor are there profound exegeses on the nature of aesthetics. Letters, for Brahms, were for the most part utilitarian, and he destroyed many that he considered too personal and revealing. Nonetheless, his distinctive personality shines forth in each one‘gruff and impatient (with violinist Joachim and his publisher Simrock), gracious and humble (with Clara Schumann), good-natured and jovial (again to Joachim, now in a better mood). Avins has arranged the letters into eight chronological sections, and her prefaces to each, in addition to her extensive footnotes and commentary, help to provide the needed context. In the process, certain durable legends about Brahms‘the shy teen playing piano in the brothels of Hamburg, for example‘are neatly debunked. This is a work that will thrill Brahms fans and provide much pleasure for those entertained by the personal correspondence of great artists. Recommended for general and academic libraries.‘Larry A. Lipkis, Moravian Coll., Bethlehem, Pa.