Date of birth 7^th May 1833. Johannes Brahms came into a musical family, his father, after an impoverished beginning as a street entertainer, was double bass player in the Hamburg orchestra. It was probably from his father that Johannes received his first lessons, and by the age of ten a sharp eyed American tried to sign him up as a child prodigy pianist to tour the States. Five years later he was to give his first major concert, though his interest was now towards composition. Modest success in this field came early in life, yet to earn a living he had to continue as a piano soloist and accompanist, a most productive period being with the great violinist, Joseph Joachim. It was not until he was 44 that he felt able set to work on the first of the four symphonies which were to be the corner-stone of his fame as a composer. The surprising statistic being that he wrote just 14 works for symphony orchestra. Indeed much of his compositional time was spent on a massive catalogu