Brahms in Context

Abstract

Brahms announced the birth of his first son Johannes in the local paper, the Privileged Weekly General News of and for Hamburg (Privilegirte wöchentliche gemeinnützige Nachrichten von und für Hamburg). At a time when such announcements were the exception, this was a clear sign of pride. 1 Johann Jakob Brahms or Brahmst, as he also spelled it, was born on 1 June 1806 in Heide in Holstein, the second son of the innkeeper and trader Johann Brahms, who had moved to Heide from Brunsbüttel via Meldorf. His ancestors were from Lower Saxony. Johann Jakob completed a five-year apprenticeship as a city wait in Heide and Wesselburen, during which he learned the flugelhorn, flute, violin, viola and cello, then standard instruments. In early 1826, the young journeyman began his travels with his certificate of apprenticeship, received in December 1825. He arrived almost immediately in Hamburg where he hoped to earn his keep more easily than in the country. 2 Initially it seems he played brass or strings in places of public entertainment in the Hamburg Berg, and also worked as a street musician in the city lanes and courtyards. However, he soon joined the Hamburg voluntary police (essentially a citizens' militia) as a horn player, a precondition of attaining the freedom of the city of Hamburg. The first high point of his career was in 1830, when he was made a citizen of Hamburg by taking the citizen's oath (written in Low German dialect) on 21 May; he could now settle within the city walls. Later, he played the flugelhorn until the dissolution of the militia in 1868. 3 His monthly wage in 1867 was 24