Frau Schumann returned to Düsseldorf the day after the funeral, accompanied by Brahms and Joachim. There were certain things to be done, the performance of which she desired to entrust to the two young musicians who had been so near the master's heart. Together they set in order the papers left by the deceased composer, wrote necessary letters, and made plans for the immediate future. Joachim writes on August 2 to Liszt:
'Frau Schumann returned here yesterday; the presence of her children and of Brahms, whom Schumann loved like a son, comforts the noble lady, who appears to me, in her deep grief, a lofty example of God-given strength. I shall remain here for some days.'
Johannes had taken over some lessons which Frau Schumann had arranged to give, on her return from England, to Fräulein von Meysenbug, daughter of the late Minister and sister of the then Hofmarschall at the Court of Lippe-Detmold, and by so doing had added four people to the list of his friends: his pupil, her mother and sister—all settled for a few weeks in Düsseldorf—and her young nephew Carl, who came from Detmold to visit his relations.
'On the occasion of one of the lessons,' says Freiherr von Meysenbug,[71] 'I first saw and heard the almost boyish-looking, shy, and socially awkward young artist, who played to us Schubert's "Moment Musical" in F minor. His rendering of the piece made an indelible impression on me.'
The boy's admiration led later on to a fast alliance between Brahms and Carl. The ladies, on their part, became enthusiastic in their admiration of the young musician, and on the termination of the lessons, which could not long be continued on account of the sad circumstances of the moment, they invited him to stay with them in the spring at Detmold, with a view to his appearance at Court.
It was felt that the all-important necessaries for Frau Schumann were rest and good air. Since the crisis of her husband's malady in February, 1854, followed after a few months by the birth of her youngest son, she had enjoyed but little repose, and since the autumn of 1855 practically none. During November and December of that year she travelled, as we have seen, in Germany, giving concerts with Joachim in Leipzig, Berlin, Danzig, Berlin again, Rostock, and many other towns. At home for Christmas, she gave her first concert in Vienna on January 7, which was followed by five others, the last taking place on March 3. Travelling meanwhile, she combined her engagements in the Austrian capital with performances at Prague and other cities. Returning early in March by way of Leipzig, she was at home about a fortnight, and on April 7 started for England, to remain until the second week of July. We have seen to what she returned, and may well understand that she seemed to Joachim and Brahms 'an example of God-given strength.' It was now decided that she should go to Switzerland, and that Johannes' sister, whom she knew and liked, should accompany her. Elise Brahms was not artistic, and had little education. She had suffered all her life from bad headaches, and the constitutional tendency had been aggravated by her employment of plain sewing, carried on at home or in the houses of her clients. She was not pretty, her single personal attraction being an abundance of light-brown hair which grew to a great length, but she was simple, unselfish, and kind; she was the sister of Johannes; and Frau Schumann hoped that a respite from her confined life, in fine air and scenery, might do her good. The whole party—Frau Schumann with some of her children, Elise, and Johannes—set off together as soon as the necessary arrangements could be made, accompanied on the first part of their journey by Joachim, and proceeded by short stages to Gersau, on the Lake of Lucerne, where they settled down for several weeks. The time was spent in quiet walks and excursions, with some amount of music and a few meetings with close friends, and the return was made in the same leisurely way, with ten days' stay at Heidelberg. The holiday had its effect, and the beginning of October found the three musicians prepared to take up the ordinary duties of life. Frau Schumann began to practise for her concert-season, Joachim was at his post at Hanover, and Johannes about to return to his home in Hamburg, to apply himself to the occupations which had been interrupted by the events of the past six months. He appeared at Otten's concert of the 25th of the month with Beethoven's G major Concerto, and this time with immense success. 'The concerto was played with such fire and élan as to excite enthusiastic demonstration.' Some special outward circumstance or inner mood probably stirred him on this occasion. His performance was so powerful that it is still vividly remembered, with its effect upon the audience. His appearance on November 22 at a Philharmonic concert chiefly devoted to Schumann's works awakened no enthusiasm. He played the master's Pianoforte Concerto, and the indifference with which his performance was received was the more marked by contrast with the stormy applause that followed Joachim's playing of Schumann's Violin Fantasia and of Bach's Chaconne.
It was, however, a joy to Brahms to have his friend with him for a day or two. Kalbeck speaks[72] of a quartet which he had ready to show Joachim, and which was tried in private at one or other friendly house—Grädener's or Avé Lallement's (a well-known Hamburg musician). Internal evidence points to the probability of its having been the Pianoforte Quartet in C minor, now known amongst its companion works as No. 3, or some of its movements. There is a great deal in this composition which is suggestive of Brahms' early period, and the scherzo is unmistakably founded on, though it is not identical with, the movement contributed by Johannes to the sonata of welcome written for Joachim in October, 1853, by Schumann, Dietrich, and Brahms.
The season 1856-57 was passed uneventfully by Brahms in the studies and other occupations already described, varied by occasional journeys. He may at this time be said to have had three if not four homes, in addition to that of his parents at Hamburg. In Düsseldorf, Hanover, Göttingen, and Bonn he was alike welcome. Grimm had married in the spring of 1856, choosing for his wife Fräulein Philippine Ritmüller, daughter of the head of the Göttingen pianoforte firm of that name. There was a large room in Ritmüller's establishment available for private performances, and in it the idea originated which has enriched the world with Brahms' first pianoforte concerto.
One day after a performance of the symphony movements of 1854 for which Grimm cherished an enthusiastic affection, in their arrangement for two pianofortes, the young musician again urged upon the composer his frequently expressed opinion of the inadequacy of this form for the expression of the great ideas of the work. Johannes, however, had quite convinced himself that he was not yet ripe for the writing of a symphony, and it occurred to Grimm that they might be rearranged as a pianoforte concerto. This proposal was entertained by Brahms, who accepted the first and second movements as suitable in essentials for this form. The changes of structure involved in the plan, however, proved far from easy of successful accomplishment, and occupied much of the composer's time during two years. The movements were repeatedly sent to Hanover for Joachim's inspection, and returned with his suggestions; for his time, sympathy, musicianship, and knowledge of the orchestra, were placed, with unfailing generosity, at Brahms' disposal during all the years of ripening experience that led up to the composer's maturity. The immediate fortunes of the work after it was at length completed will be related in due course.
The invitation of the von Meysenbugs having been duly renewed and accepted, the young musician paid a short visit to Detmold at Whitsuntide. Arriving at the little town one pleasant afternoon, the last stage of his journey having been made by post, he was met by his pupil and her nephew Carl, and brought by them to Frau von Meysenbug's house. The article of the Vienna Neues Tagblatt already referred to, by Freiherr von Meysenbug, the 'Carl,' or 'Charles,' as he was generally called, of 1857, gives a pleasant account of the visit: