Symphony No. 1 / Variations on a Theme By Haydn

Brahms never made a secret of the inspiration he drew from the Beethoven symphonies, but before he published his first symphony – inspired by Beethoven’s fifth and ninth – he had struggled for no less than fourteen years with it. In the meantime he wrote many more pieces and his Variations on a theme by Haydn are considered to be a preliminary exercise before venturing on to the first symphony. The opening piece of this recording, the Hungarian Dance No. 14, goes back to Brahms as a young cafe pianist, when he and his father earned a bit on the side in bars in the red-light district of Hamburg and where he first heard Hungarian gipsy music. It was this experience that gave birth to Brahms’ lifelong attachment to and admiration for this rich folk music style.