Composer of the Week

In the first of five programmes Donald Macleod begins with Brahms's own annus mirabilis - 12 extraordinary months from 1853-4 when his career went stratosphericm, but which ended with the tragic suicide attempt of his great friend and mentor Robert Schumann. We begin with perhaps the most unusual work in Brahms's entire output: the rare Hymn To The Veneration Of The Great Joachim! - a boozy musical joke written for the composer's new best buddy.