'A', naturally, is Johannes Brahms, the representative of the tradition-minded school of 19th composing who, unlike Liszt and Wagner, was no master of radical innovations in form, but rather one of expressing the emotion and passion characteristic of Romanticism within the framework of Classical forms. The Symphony No. 3 in F major, dating from 1883 and considered by many to be the composer's own 'Eroica', is also marked by this duality. Brahms's style and world view had a powerful impact on the German Hans Koessler, who from the time he was 29 years old, in 1882, had a major influence on the development of Hungary's musical culture. At Budapest's Franz Liszt Academy of music, he taught such artists as Bartók, Kodály, Leó Weiner, Imre Kálmán and Viktor Jacobi. His works are rarely played these day, which makes this performance of his Symphonic Variations an opportunity to make up for past neglect.
Another of Koessler's students was Ernő Dohnányi, and the indirect effect that Brahms had on him is shown by the fact that, after hearing the young Dohnányi's first work, his Piano Quintet in C minor, in Vienna at the urging of Koessler, Brahms said of it, 'I could not have written it better myself.' The Stabat Mater to be played at the concert is an example of his later artistic output: it dates from 1953, in the twilight of the composer's life after he had emigrated to the United States.

Presented by: Hungarian National Philharmonic