Brahms Fes­ti­val

Johannes Brahms is one of the outstanding composers of the 19th century. His music continues to fascinate listeners to this day. Since 1992, the MHL has dedicated a special annual festival to him: together, lecturers and students at the university explore the music of the Hamburg-born composer in a variety of contexts: in relation to friends and kindred spirits, role models and successors, landscapes and cultural circles, history and the present. With the Brahms Institute at the MHL, founded in 1991, the university has one of the largest collections on the life and work of the composer and his time. The Brahms Festival combines the scientific exploration of music with artistic training in a direct and unique way. This is what makes the Brahms Festival what it is: unique in the German-speaking university landscape.

»Free­dom«

The 34th Brahms Festival of the MHL will be held from 2 to 10 May 2026 under the theme of freedom. Around 250 lecturers and students from the MHL will explore aspects of freedom in symphony concerts, moderated themed concerts, lunchtime concerts, morning concerts, night concerts and in the MHL Brahms Lounges. The festival programme will be published here at the beginning of 2026.

History

The themes of past Brahms Festivals

  • 2025: Aimez-vous Brahms?
  • 2024: Intoxication
  • 2023: Dialogues
  • 2022: Fantastic
  • 2021: Spring Awakening!
  • 2020: All ears (cancelled)
  • 2019: Abysses – rays of hope
  • 2018: Strangers
  • 2017: Home
  • 2016: Transformations
  • 2015: All'ungarese
  • 2014: Longing
  • 2013: Beethoven, the fixed star
  • 2012: Brahmsiade
  • 2011: Dedicated to Brahms
  • 2010: Brahms – New Paths
  • 2009: Brahms and the Music of the South
  • 2008: Brahms and Bourgeois Music Culture
  • 2007: Brahms and the Dialogue with History
  • 2006: Inspiration – Fascination: Brahms, Mozart, Schumann
  • 2005: Brahms and the traditions of the north
  • 2004: Brahms – Landscapes: Bohemia and Moravia
  • 2003: Brahms – Contrasts
  • 2002: Brahms – Friends and kindred spirits
  • 2001: Brahms and Vienna
  • 2000: Homage to Bach
  • 1997: Schubert – Mendelssohn – Brahms
  • 1992: First Brahms Festival of the MHL

Award-winning festival

In 2006, the Brahms Festival and the Brahms Institute at the MHL were awarded the Brahms Prize by the Brahms Society of Schleswig-Holstein. Since 1988, this prize, worth €10,000, has been awarded to individuals and institutions that have rendered outstanding services to the music of Johannes Brahms and his artistic legacy.

The Brahms Fes­ti­val Ma­ga­zi­ne

Down­lo­ad

Brahms-Festival-Magazin 2025
Brahms-Festival-Magazin 2024
Brahms-Festival-Magazin 2023
Brahms-Festival-Magazin 2022
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