The Life of Johannes Brahms, Volume I opens Florence May’s biography of the German composer, written with the special authority of one who had been his piano pupil. Knowing Brahms personally, May combined first-hand acquaintance with diligent research to produce a detailed and sympathetic life.
This first volume traces Brahms’s origins in Hamburg, his early struggles, his decisive friendship with Robert and Clara Schumann, and the formation of his art. May draws on correspondence and personal recollection to illuminate both the man and the music. Long valued as a primary English-language source, the biography remains an important and affectionate record of the composer’s life.