大象传媒

Kate Molleson follows Brahms as he puts down roots in Vienna.

Johannes Brahms, the bearded and magisterial Romantic composer, could certainly do grandeur when required. But really, he was more interested in what music meant in ordinary life - how it can whisper, joke and console. He was a man who tried to find a place to belong all his life, wrote for the people closest to him, and that fondness is writ large in his music. All this week, Kate Molleson focuses on Brahms at home, revealing the subtle sides of this sometimes brawny composer 鈥� the tender heart behind the famous beard - through the music he wrote for himself and his friends to play.

Today, we join Brahms in Vienna, the city that he would call home for most of his adult life. Arriving with a suitcase full of impostor syndrome, he has to make a name for himself in the musical soirees of Viennese culture vultures. Brahms quickly finds a place to hang his hat and sets about creating one of his most heartfelt and ambitious works to date .

Waltz in A flat
Fabian Muller, piano

Six Quartets, Op 112 (1. Sehnsucht)
Danish National Radio Choir
Stefan Parkman, conductor
Bengt Forsberg, piano

Piano Quartet No 2 in A major (3rd movement 鈥� Scherzo)
Renaud Capu莽on, violin
G茅rard Causs茅, viola
Gautier Capu莽on, cello
Nicholas Angelich, piano

Ein Deutsches Requiem: Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen; Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit
Dorothea R枚schmann, soprano
Rundfunkchor Berlin
Berlin Philharmonic
Simon Rattle, conductor

Geistliches Wiegenlied
Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo soprano
Nils-Erik Sparf, viola
Bengt Forsberg, piano

Piano Concerto No 2 (3rd movement - Andante)
Steven Hough, piano
Mozarteumorchester Salzburg
Mark Wigglesworth, conductor

Produced by Amelia Parker for 大象传媒 Audio Wales and West