The genesis of the Fourth Symphony possibly goes back to the 1870s when Brahms was studying the Bach Cantata “Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich”, whose chaconne theme forms the nucleus of the finale. Around 29 August 1885 Brahms wrote to Hans von Bülow from Mürzzuschlag in Styria: “However I have a few entr’actes – which together form what one would usually call a symphony. […] I am afraid […], it takes after the climate in this region – the cherries do not ripen here.” Yet we are by no means speaking of “sour” cherries here. The work is today a part of the canon of classical-romantic symphonies. Our handy and inexpensive priced study edition is based on the musical text in the Johannes Brahms Complete Edition (HN 6015).
Content/Details
- Symphony no. 4 e minor op. 98
Youtube
Preface
The text presented in this edition follows that of the Johannes Brahms Gesamtausgabe (series I/4, Munich, 2011 [= JBG I/4]). Further detailed information on sources and edition, as also on genesis, early performance history, reception and publication can be found in the Introduction and Critical Report of that volume. * Two events are of some significance in the prehistory of … more
Critical Commentary
About the composer

Johannes Brahms
His significant output comprises chamber music, piano works, numerous choral compositions and songs (including settings of folk-song lyrics), as well as large-scale orchestral works in the 1870s and 1880s. His compositions are characterized by the process of developing variation. He is considered an antithesis to the New German School around Liszt, and an advocate of “absolute” music.
1833 | Born in Hamburg on May 7, the son of a musician. His first piano instruction with Willibald Cossel at age seven, then with Eduard Marxen; first public performances from 1843. |
1853 | Concert tour through German cities; he meets Schumann, who announces him as the next great composer in his essay “Neue Bahnen” (“New Paths”). A lifelong, intimate friendship develops with Clara Schumann. |
1854–57 | Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15. |
1857–59 | Choir director, pianist, and teacher at the royal court in Detmold. |
1859–61 | Director of the Hamburg Women’s Choir. |
1860 | Manifesto against the New Germans around Liszt. |
1863 | Cantata “Rinaldo,” Op. 50. |
1863–64 | Director of the Wiener Singakademie. |
1868 | Partial performance in Vienna of “A German Requiem,” Op. 45 (the complete work premiered in Leipzig in 1869) |
1871–74 | Artistic director of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde (Society of Friends of Music) in Vienna. |
1873 | Haydn Variations, Op. 56a, for orchestra. |
from 1877 | His symphonic output begins with the Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68 (begun 1862); composition of the Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73; the Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90 (1883); and Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98 (1884–85): cantabile themes, chamber-music-like style. |
from 1878 | Travels in Italy. |
1878 | Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77, for Joseph Joachim. |
1881 | Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 83, with a scherzo movement. |
1886 | Honorary president of Vienna’s Tonkünstlerverein (Association of Musicians). |
1897 | Four Serious Songs, Op. 121. Dies in Vienna on April 3. |