They were like the Felix and Oscar of Romantic music – the high-strung, fastidious Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), and the acerbic, unkempt Brahms (1833-1897). May 7th marks the anniversary of the births of these twin titans of hirsute Romanticism.
I always find it oddly endearing that Brahms and Tchaikovsky were able to look past their personal aversions to one another’s music to actually grow to appreciate their individual qualities as people. There’s a lesson to be learned from that, I think.
Initially, Tchaikovsky might have been right at home posting in a YouTube comments section, confiding to his diary, “I have played over the music of that scoundrel Brahms. What a giftless bastard!”
For his part, Brahms indelicately drifted off to sleep during a rehearsal of Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony – unfortunately, in the presence of the composer.
According to the pianist Zygmunt Stojowski, “Tchaikovsky’s comment to me was that he would have been deeply hurt had he not, himself, frankly hated the Brahms symphonies.”
The two composers met unexpectedly in Leipzig in 1888. They must have been as surprised as anyone to find themselves actually delighting in one another’s company.
“I’ve been on the booze with Brahms,” Tchaikovsky wrote. “He is tremendously nice – not at all proud as I’d expected but remarkably straightforward and entirely without arrogance. He has a very cheerful disposition, and I must say that the hours I spent in his company have left me with nothing but pleasant memories.”
The following year, the two met again in Hamburg. That’s when Brahms slept through the Fifth Symphony. Tchaikovsky bore it lightly and was convivial throughout the meal they shared afterward. Although Brahms was harsh in his assessment of the last movement of the symphony and Tchaikovsky confessed an overall aversion to Brahms’ style, the evening was full of good cheer and ended with Tchaikovsky inviting Brahms to visit him in Russia.
How large a role alcohol may have played in the two men’s warmth for one another we can only guess. It was not just anyone who could be Brahms’ drinking buddy.
Regardless of their mutual affection, the two never could reconcile themselves to one another’s music. When asked what he thought of a piano trio Brahms had been rehearsing (the Trio in C minor), Tchaikovsky was polite but frank: “Don’t be angry with me, my dear friend, but I did not like it.”
Happy birthday, boys.
Brahms, Piano Trio No. 3 in C minor, Op. 101 (disliked by Tchaikovsky)
Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 5 in E minor (disliked by Brahms)
