Michael Musgrave presents a contemporary view of Brahms 150 years after his birth, seeing him not simply as the `conservative' figure so often stressed in the past, but as one who creatively reinterpreted a wider range of historical elements than any composer of his time. Brahms absorbed his studies directly into his music-making and composition and in so doing helped to evolve not merely a personal language which was regarded as progressive and sometimes difficult
by a range of contemporaries and successors, but also helped to establish an ethos of historical reference which anticipates the twentieth century.
The book concentrates on the music, with Brahms's life discussed briefly in the introduction. The works are considered in four phases according to genre, with an emphasis on connection and on the development and elaboration of a unified language. The list of works includes a recent discoveries and a calendar outlines the pattern of his musical life, including relevant information concerning performances.