Brahms ... inexplicable innit

[Lento]

In Tom Service's article he states "The journey from Brahms’s First Symphony to his Fourth is from optimism to pessimism". Isn't this a bit of a generalisation? The beginning of Brahms 1 is hardly sweetness and light, one would have thought.

[hafod]

Indeed. A snip at £7.21, not like those £100+ 'bargains' that get posted. Tho' I expect many forum members own them already.

I would have thought that 60p a disc was a 'bargain'. If they do own it already, then they almost certainly paid a lot more than £100 for it. I see it as a resource to dip into over an extended period of time and particularly when downloads largely take over - a route I have no wish to take.

[Sir Velo]

In Tom Service's article he states "The journey from Brahms’s First Symphony to his Fourth is from optimism to pessimism".

Give us strength! There's a touch more to Brahms 4 than pessimism as well. Possibly, an inexorable, unyielding fate; but only pessimism? Surely a touch simplistic.

And what about Brahms 2 and 3, are they supposed to be intervening steps on the continuum from optimism to pessimism, with the second slightly more optimistic than the third?

AAMONI, I've just re-read Richard Osborne's notes to the Gilels set of Brahms PCs: a model of elegantly written prose; illuminating, intelligent and without the seemingly all pervasive need to come up with a soundbite.

[Thropplenoggin]

Give us strength! There's a touch more to Brahms 4 than pessimism as well. Possibly, an inexorable, unyielding fate; but only pessimism? Surely a touch simplistic.

And what about Brahms 2 and 3, are they supposed to be intervening steps on the continuum from optimism to pessimism, with the second slightly more optimistic than the third?

AAMONI, I've just re-read Richard Osborne's notes to the Gilels set of Brahms PCs: a model of elegantly written prose; illuminating, intelligent and without the seemingly all pervasive need to come up with a soundbite.

You really should read the article in full, SV. There's more to it than the hook of its first line.

[Sir Velo]

You really should read the article in full, SV.

Are you suggesting that I might have been a bit precipitate in my response?

[Thropplenoggin]

Are you suggesting that I might have been a bit precipitate in my response?

Sir, it's almost as if you had read the maxim inscribed on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi: Know Thyself!