LISTENING GUIDES TO THE WORKS OF JOHANNES BRAHMS

by Kelly Dean Hansen, Ph.D., Musicology

These distinctive real-time listening guides to the works of German Romantic composer Johannes Brahms have been my life’s work and labor of love.  The original conception dates to 2004, and versions of the earliest guides were on the internet as early as December 21, 2005.  As of May 3, 2024, there are guides for all 122 opus numbers, marking a milestone.  I intend to do revisions (some more major than others) on older guides, primarily those from 2008-09.  Works without opus number, such as the Hungarian Dances and folk song arrangements, may also be gradually added, indexed from another page.  By nature, the guides are recording-specific, but they can be adapted to any recording of the given works by simply changing the timings.  You may email me with any comments or requests.  My inbox tends to fill (this is an old university email account), and if I do not respond within a few days, please message again.  The Spotify playlist below includes all recordings used for the guides (the notes on the playlist have been edited to reflect changes in the past ten years).  Please see the important note at the bottom of the page for some information on a recent recording change for the solo songs.  All updates, including the previous notes at the head of the page, have been moved to the archive linked at the bottom of the page.  THE GUIDES WILL ALWAYS BE FREE FOR YOUR USE AND ENJOYMENT, but there remain expenses for hosting and the domain renewal, and donations via the PayPal link below ARE ALWAYS WELCOMED AND GREATLY APPRECIATED, particularly if you have any requests.  For citations, the author should be given as “Hansen, Kelly Dean.”  The website title should be given as “Listening Guides to the Works of Johannes Brahms.”