Max Klinger (German, 1857-1920), Brahmsphantasie, 1894. Book of 41 etchings, engravings, and lithographs. Gift of the Handforth Estate, 1987.27.1. Davison Art Center Collection.
The songs are performed by Christopher Grundy, baritone, and Neely Bruce, piano. The recording took place on June 12, 2009, at Wesleyan University; Michael Arafeh was the recording engineer.
The songs were recorded with a Bechstein piano from the 1890s, the decade of the Brahms Fantasy. It belonged to the legendary pianist and composer Leopold Godowsky (1870-1938), was restored by Wilhelm Gertz, and has become part of the World Music Collection at Wesleyan University through the generosity of the composer’s grandson, Leopold Godowsky III, and Elaine Godowsky.
Introductory text by Yonatan Malin, the the assistance of Clare Rogan.
The text translations are by Yonatan Malin in consultation with Philip L. Miller, The Ring of Words: an Anthology of Song Texts (New York: W.W. Norton, 1973); Lucien Stark, A Guide to the Solo Songs of Johannes Brahms (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1995); and The Lied and Art Song Texts Page, The German texts are given as set by Brahms. For occasional differences between the song texts and original poems see Stark, A Guide to the Solo Songs.
The digital presentation was developed by the Academic Media Studio, Wesleyan University: Melissa Datre, Project Manager; Philip Isaacs, Multimedia Developer; Mariah Klaneski, Graphic Designer; John Wareham, Photographer.
Development of this presentation was generously supported by The Lemberg Fund and a Project Grant from Wesleyan University.
Website updated in 2019 by Emma Freeman with the Digital Media Lab.