Artists

Brahms, Johannes

image of Brahms, Johannes Hamburg born important composer of the Romantic Era

Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897) was a German composer of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, he eventually settled in Vienna, Austria. As with all of the celebrated composers of classical music, Johannes Brahms and his works have appeared widely in film and popular culture. Perhaps the most famous use of a music piece by Brahms can be seen and heard in Charlie Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" (1940) where he shaves a man to the sound of Brahms' Hungarian dances. The soundtrack to Douglas Sirk's film "All That Heaven Allows" (1955), starring Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson, features prominent motives from Brahms' 1st Symphony Claude Chabrol's film "Que la bête meure" (1969) begins with the sound of Brahms' "Four Serious Songs" (Op.121) as a car drives though the countryside, on its way to an accident. The famous "Brahms' Lullaby" (composed for voice and piano as "Wiegenlied", Op. 49 No. 4, 1868) appears repeatedly in cartoons and elsewhere as an emblem for sleep.