Dr. Marie Sumner Lott, one of our esteemed Music History professors, recently returned to Atlanta after a remarkable journey to the heart of the Romantic composer Johannes Brahms's world. She spent three weeks in residency at the historic Brahms House in Baden-Baden, Germany, working on a book chapter that explores Brahms's beautiful collections of Romances for solo voice and for chorus, including his "12 Lieder und Romanzen, Op. 44" for treble choir.
While there, she followed in the footsteps of the maestro and his friend and mentor Clara Schumann. Dr. Sumner Lott retraced paths they once trod, venturing to natural wonders and Medieval ruins, including the iconic Yburg Castle, which Brahms and Schumann visited in 1865. "I came home with a whole new appreciation for his fascination with these places and their stories," she observed. Brahms and his contemporaries composed many pieces that drew on these experiences to evoke the mystery and grandeur of the Middle Ages as they imagined that time. You can read more from Dr. Sumner Lott about this trend, known as "Romantic Medievalism," in her article published in the American Brahms Society Newsletter.
Reflecting on her experience, Dr. Sumner Lott shared, "It was incredible to be able to sit in Brahms's living room, next to his desk, to play on his piano and enjoy the same views that inspired his first and second symphonies, his horn trio and countless songs and choral masterpieces."
We applaud Dr. Marie Sumner Lott for her for her devotion to gaining a deeper understanding of one of music's greatest creative minds and eagerly look forward to the finished book.
