These two titans of the Romantic era share a birthday: May 7.
Johannes Brahms was born on May 7, 1833. Exactly seven years later, Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born. They became two of the most well-known composers in music history. To celebrate this coincidence, we're playing their symphonies all week on the Symphony at 8! Here's the schedule:
![]() | Tuesday, May 3: |
![]() | Wednesday, May 4: |
![]() | Thursday, May 5: |
![]() | Friday, May 6: Though Tchaikovsky himself wasn't too pleased with his ending to this one, it has become one of his most popular symphonies. In World War II, officials in Leningrad ordered the Leningrad Radio Symphony Orchestra to play it during the Siege, to keep spirits high in the city. When it was first performed in Boston, reviewers didn't really love it, calling it "a horde of demons struggling in a torrent of brandy, the music growing drunker and drunker. Pandemonium, delirium tremens, raving, and above all, noise worse confounded!" (info: Wikipedia) |
![]() | Saturday, May 7: Yefim Bronfman is the soloist in Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2, and Andris Nelsons conducts Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 1, "Winter Daydreams," as well as Haydn's Symphony No. 30, "Alleluia." |