1905.] on Personal Recollections of Johannes Brahms. 189' 



his " Triumphal Hymn " for double chorus and baritone solo (Op. 55^ 

 published in 1872) rather troubled me. I asked him if eventually 

 he would object to my altering some of the highest notes into more 

 convenient ones on account of my cold, and he said : " Not in the 

 least. As far as I am concerned, a thinking, sensible singer may,, 

 without hesitation, change a note which, for some reason or other, is, 

 for the time being, out of his compass, into one which he can reach 

 with comfort, provided always the declamation remains correct, and 

 the accentuation does not suffer." 



Fel). 6. — Yesterday was the concert. Brahms played his Piano- 

 forte Concerto in D minor wonderfully. I especially noticed his 

 emphasising each of those tremendous shakes in the first movement 

 by placing a short rest between the last note of one and the first 

 little note before the next. During those short stops he would lift 

 his hands up high and let them come down on the keys with a force 

 like that of a lion's paw. It was grand. The glorious but horribly 

 difficult " Triumphal Hymn," conducted by Brahms, went splendidly. 

 It was a veritable triumph for the executants, as well as for the com- 

 poser. The joy and gratification expressed in Brahms' face at the 

 end, when acknowledging the acclamations of audience, chorus and 

 orchestra, was evidently caused as much by the consciousness of 

 having written a fine work as by its reception. 



Gohlenz on the Rhine, Feb. 26. — Brahms and I were the soloists 

 at the orchestral concert which took place last night under Masz- 

 kowski's conductorship. The day before was the final full rehearsal 

 " Generalprobe " (to which, in most places in Germany, the public 

 are admitted). Brahms had played Schumann's Concerto in A minor, 

 and missed a good many notes. So in the morning of the day of 

 the concert he went to the concert hall to practise. He had asked 

 me to follow him there a little later, and to rehearse with him the 

 songs (his, of course), he was to accompany me at the evening's con- 

 cert. When I arrived at the hall I found him quite alone, seated at 

 the piano, and working away, for all he was worth, on details of 

 Beethoven's " Choral Fantasia " and Schumann's Concerto. He was 

 ([uite red in the face, and, interrupting himself for a moment on 

 seeing me stand beside him, said with that chikUike, confiding ex- 

 pression in his eyes : " Really, this is too bad. Those people to-night 

 expect to hear something especially good, and here I am likely to 

 treat them to a hoggish mess. I assure you, I could play to-day ^ 

 with the greatest ease, far more difficult things, with wider stretches, 

 for the fingers, my own concerto for example, but those simple^ 

 diatonic runs are exasperating. I keep saying to myself : ' But, 

 Johannes, pull yourself together, do play decently.' But no use, it's 

 really horrid." 



After our little private rehearsal of the songs, Brahms, Maszkowski, 

 who had in the meantime joined us, and I, repaired to Councillor 

 Wegeler's, Brahms' host, in accordance with an invitation to inspect 



