- Brahms composed this concerto in 1887 for violinist Joseph Joachim and cellist Robert Hausmann.1
- Brahms and Joachim had been friends since early 1853. Joachim was the person who encouraged Brahms to befriend Robert and Clara Schumann, which he did later that same year.
- Joseph Joachim and his wife Amelie had gone through a bitter divorce in 1881. Brahms sided with Amelie during the proceedings, which offended Joachim, and their friendship foundered until Brahms offered this concerto as a gift to Joachim in 1887.
- Robert Hausmann was the cellist in the Joachim Quartet. Brahms also wrote his Second Cello Sonata for Hausmann.2
- Joachim and Hausmann aided Brahms by editing the concerto.3
- Hausmann and Joachim played the premiere of this concerto in Cologne on October 18, 1887.4
Sources
- George S. Bozarth and Walter Frisch, “Brahms, Johannes,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed February 18, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000051879.
- Lynda MacGregor, “Hausmann, Robert,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed February 18, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000012566.
- Ibid.
- George S. Bozarth and Walter Frisch, “Brahms, Johannes,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed February 18, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000051879.
Cut IDs
41224 49073 10916 15400 21169 22161