Conference Theme 4: Brahms’s Composition and Recomposing Brahms
The sphere of Brahms’s intellectual world continues to widen as composers from the 1970s to the present compose pieces that respond directly to the music of Brahms in conceptually fascinating and multifaceted ways. These composers come from within and beyond the German-speaking realm, ranging from the Hungarian composer György Ligeti (1923–2006) to the British composer Thomas Adès (1971–) and the American composer Missy Mazzoli (1980–). There are those who wish to expand on Brahms’s musical thinking, such as Detlev Glanert (1960–); those who engage with Brahms by way of offering critical reflection upon the role of history such as Michael Finnissy (1946–); those who respond to Brahms by way of pointed critique, such as Adès; those who attempt to recompose the “particles” of Brahms’s music as though Brahms himself had not first composed his own pieces, such as Wolfgang Rihm (1952–). There are also composers who respond to the same literature as Brahms, aiming to reconceptualize not only Brahms’s music, but also these literary and poetic works. The broad theme of “recomposing Brahms” has many fascinating intersections with critical theory, as outlined in the theme 2 above.
