"Mr. Arthur M. Abell, an American violinist, was one of the few who could make the Master tak intimately about his own work: "A year before Brahms died," said Mr. Abell, "he asked me whether I played the banjo. 'No,' I replied. 'Why?' 'Because at Klengel's I met an American girl who played for me, on that curious instrument, a sort of music which she called Ragtime. Do you know this?' -- And he hummed the well known tune which goes to the words:
If you refuse me,
Honey, you lose me.
'Well,' the Master continued, with a far-away look in his eyes, 'I thought I would use, not the stupid tunes, but the interesting rhythms of this Ragtime. But I do not know whether I shall ever get around to it. My ideas no longer flow as easily as they used to.'
"This remark gave me an opening for certain questions that I had longed to ask him ever since I had first met him five years before - questions concerning his mental processes while composing. Joachim had told me that Brahms was exceedingly difficult to draw out on the subject of his inspirations, but the illustruous composer's mood was right, the setting was ideal, so I ventured and won.
"'Apropos of your flow of ideas,' I asked, 'do you ever have, when composing, sensations such as those described by Mozart in a letter to a friend? He wrote: "The process with me is like a vivid dream.'"
"'Yes, I do,' replied Brahms. 'Mozart is right. When at my best it is a dreamlike state, and in that condition the ideas flow much more easily.'
"'Are you conscious when in this state?'
"'Certainly, fully conscious, otherwise I would not be able to write the ideas down as they come. It is important to get them on paper immediately.'
"'Do you ever lose consciousness while in this mental condition?'
"'Yes, sometimes I become so drowsy that I fall asleep, and then I lose the ideas.'
"'Can you do anything to induce this dreamlike state?'
"'Yes, I early discovered that to obtain good results certain conditions had to be met. First of all, I have to be absolutely alone and undisturbed. Without these two requisites I cannot even think of trying to compose.'"
© Robert Schauffler
"The Unknown Brahms" (1933)
If you refuse me,
Honey, you lose me.
'Well,' the Master continued, with a far-away look in his eyes, 'I thought I would use, not the stupid tunes, but the interesting rhythms of this Ragtime. But I do not know whether I shall ever get around to it. My ideas no longer flow as easily as they used to.'
"This remark gave me an opening for certain questions that I had longed to ask him ever since I had first met him five years before - questions concerning his mental processes while composing. Joachim had told me that Brahms was exceedingly difficult to draw out on the subject of his inspirations, but the illustruous composer's mood was right, the setting was ideal, so I ventured and won.
"'Apropos of your flow of ideas,' I asked, 'do you ever have, when composing, sensations such as those described by Mozart in a letter to a friend? He wrote: "The process with me is like a vivid dream.'"
"'Yes, I do,' replied Brahms. 'Mozart is right. When at my best it is a dreamlike state, and in that condition the ideas flow much more easily.'
"'Are you conscious when in this state?'
"'Certainly, fully conscious, otherwise I would not be able to write the ideas down as they come. It is important to get them on paper immediately.'
"'Do you ever lose consciousness while in this mental condition?'
"'Yes, sometimes I become so drowsy that I fall asleep, and then I lose the ideas.'
"'Can you do anything to induce this dreamlike state?'
"'Yes, I early discovered that to obtain good results certain conditions had to be met. First of all, I have to be absolutely alone and undisturbed. Without these two requisites I cannot even think of trying to compose.'"
© Robert Schauffler
"The Unknown Brahms" (1933)
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