__NOTOC__ Year 1877 (MDCCCLXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar.

Events

January–March

January 1 – Queen Victoria is proclaimed ''Empress of India'' by the ''Royal Titles Act 1876'', introduced by Benjamin Disraeli, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom .

January 8 – Indian Wars – Battle of Wolf Mountain: Crazy Horse and his warriors fight their last battle with the United States Cavalry in Montana.

January 20 – The Conference of Constantinople ends with Ottoman Turkey rejecting proposals of internal reform and Balkan provisions.

March 2 – In the Compromise of 1877, the U.S. presidential election, 1876 is resolved with the selection of Rutherford B. Hayes as the winner, even though Samuel J. Tilden had won the popular vote on November 7, 1876.

March 4

* Emile Berliner invents the microphone.

* Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ballet ''Swan Lake'' debuts.

* Rutherford B. Hayes becomes President of the United States, succeeding Ulysses S. Grant as a result of the Compromise of 1877

March 15 – 1877 Australia v. England series: The first Test cricket match is held between England and Australia.

March 24 – For the only time in history, the Boat Race between the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford is declared a "dead heat" (i.e. a draw).

April–June

April 24 – Russo-Turkish War, 1877–1878: the Russian Empire declares war on the Ottoman Empire.

May 5 – Indian Wars: Sitting Bull leads his band of Lakota into Canada to avoid harassment by the United States Army under Colonel Nelson Miles.

May 6 – Realizing that his people are weakened by cold and hunger, Chief Crazy Horse of the Oglala Sioux surrenders to United States troops in Nebraska.

May 8 – At Gilmore's Gardens in New York City, the first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show opens and had a massive impact on the Civil rights movement. (ends May 11).

May 16 – The May 16, 1877 political crisis occurs in France.

May 21 – (May 9 O.S.) – Romania declares itself independent from the Ottoman Empire (recognized in 1878 after the end of the Romanian independence war).

June 15 – Henry Ossian Flipper becomes the first African American cadet to graduate from the United States Military Academy.

June 17 – Indian Wars – Battle of White Bird Canyon: The Nez Perce defeat the U.S. Cavalry at White Bird Canyon in the Idaho Territory.

June 21 – The Molly Maguires are hanged at Carbon County Prison in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania.

June 26 – The eruption of Mount Cotopaxi in Ecuador causes severe mudflows that wipe out surrounding cities and valleys, killing 1,000.

June 30 – The British Mediterranean fleet is sent to Besika Bay.

July–September

July 9 – The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club begins its first lawn tennis tournament at Wimbledon.

July 16 – Great railroad strike of 1877: Riots by Baltimore and Ohio Railroad railroad workers in Baltimore, Maryland lead to a sympathy strike and rioting in Pittsburgh, and a full-scale worker's rebellion in St. Louis, briefly establishing a Communist government before U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes calls in the armed forces.

July 19 – Russo-Turkish War, 1877–1878: The first battle in the Siege of Plevna is fought.

July 30 – The second battle in the Siege of Plevna is fought.

August 9 – Indian Wars – Battle of Big Hole: Near Big Hole River in Montana, a small band of Nez Percé Indians who refused government orders to move to a reservation, clash with the United States Army. The army loses 29 soldiers and Indians lose 89 warriors in a U.S. Army victory.

August 11 – Asaph Hall discovers Deimos, the outer moon of Mars.

August 18 – Asaph Hall discovers Phobos, the inner moon of Mars.

September 1 – The Battle of Lovcha, third battle in the Siege of Plevna, is fought.

September 5 – Indian Wars: Oglala Sioux chief Crazy Horse is bayoneted by a United States soldier, after resisting confinement in a guardhouse at Fort Robinson in Nebraska.

October–December

October 22 – The Blantyre mining disaster in Scotland kills 207 miners.

November 21 – Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph, a machine that can record sound, considered Edison's first great invention. Edison demonstrates the device for the first time on November 29.

November 22 – The first college lacrosse game is played between New York University and Manhattan College.

December 9 – The fourth battle of the Russo-Turkish War, 1877–1878 is fought, concluding the Siege of Plevna.

December 14 – Serbia restates its previous declaration of war against Turkey.

Date unknown

''Nineteenth Century'' magazine is founded.

Leo Tolstoy's novel ''Anna Karenina'' is published complete in book form.

A professionally led army of draftees crushes a major rebellion by feudal elements protesting the loss of their privileges in Japan.

Births

January–June

January 2 – Slava Raskaj, Croatian painter (d. 1906)

February 4 – Eddie Cochems, Father of the Forward Pass in American football (d. 1953)

February 7 – G. H. Hardy, British mathematician (d. 1947)

February 14 – Edmund Landau, German mathematician (d. 1938)

February 17 – André Maginot, French politician (d. 1932)

February 19 – Gabriele Münter, German painter (d. 1962)

February 25 – Erich von Hornbostel, Austrian musicologist (d. 1935)

March 2 – Consuelo Vanderbilt, Duchess of Marlborough (d. 1964)

March 4

* Alexander Fyodorovich Gedike, Russian composer (d. 1957)

* Fritz Graebner, German ethnologist (d. 1934)

* Garrett Morgan, American inventor (d. 1963)

March 16 – Reza Shah Pahlavi, Shah of Iran (d. 1944)

March 18 – Edgar Cayce, American psychic (d. 1945)

March 21 – Maurice Farman, French pilot and aircraft designer (d. 1964)

March 25 – Walter Little, Canadian politician (d. 1961)

March 29 – Alois Kayser, German missionary (d. 1944)

May 3 – Karl Abraham, German psychoanalyst (d. 1925)

May 23 – Grace Ingalls, youngest sister of author Laura Ingalls Wilder (d. 1941)

June 4 – Heinrich Otto Wieland, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1957)

June 7 – Charles Glover Barkla, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1944)

June 11 – Renee Vivien, poet (d. 1909)

June 14 – Jane Bathori, French opera singer (d. 1970)

July–December

July 2 – Hermann Hesse, German-born writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1962)

July 3 – Shafiqah Shasha (شفيقة شعشع), Lebanese-Australian matriarch (d. 1953)

July 6 – Arnaud Massy, French golfer (d. 1950)

July 13 – Erik Scavenius, Prime Minister of Denmark (d. 1962)

July 17 – Ernst von Dohnányi, Hungarian conductor (d. 1960)

July 19 – Arthur Fielder, English cricketer (d. 1949)

August 1 – Charlotte Hughes (née Milburn), the longest-lived person ever documented in the United Kingdom (d. 1993)

August 6 – Wallace H. White, Jr., U.S. Senator from Maine (d. 1952)

August 7 – Ulrich Salchow, Swedish figure skater (d. 1949)

August 15 – Stanley Vestal, American writer, poet, historian (d. 1957)

August 22 – Ananda Coomaraswamy, philosopher (d. 1947)

August 27

* Charles Rolls, co-founder of the Rolls-Royce car firm, pioneer aviator (d. 1910)

* Ernst Wetter, member of the Swiss Federal Council (d. 1963)

September 1 – Francis William Aston, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1945)

September 2 – Frederick Soddy, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1956)

September 6 – Buddy Bolden, American jazz musician (d. 1930)

September 26 – Alfred Cortot, Swiss pianist (d. 1962)

October 4 – Razor Smith, English cricketer (d. 1946)

October 15 – Helen Ware, American stage & film actress (d. 1939)

October 27 – George Thompson, English cricketer (d. 1943)

October 29 – Narcisa de Leon, Filipino film mogul (d. 1966)

November 2 – Claire McDowell, American silent film actress (d. 1966)

November 9 – Allama Iqbal, Indian philosopher, one of the profound founding fathers of the Muslims of India (d. 1938)

November 15 – William Hope Hodgson, English author (d. 1918)

November 22

* Endre Ady, Hungarian poet (d. 1919)

* Joan Gamper, Swiss-born businessman and founder of FC Barcelona (d. 1930)

November 24 – Kavasji Jamshedji Petigara, Indian police commissioner of Bombay (d. 1941)

December 3 – Richard Pearse, New Zealand airplane pioneer (d. 1953)

December 24 – Sigrid Schauman, Finnish painter (d. 1979)

Deaths

January–June

January 2 – Alexander Bain, Scottish inventor (b. 1811)

January 4 – Cornelius Vanderbilt, American entrepreneur (b. 1794)

January 20 – Dato Maharajalela Lela, Malay nationalist.

March 1 – Antoni Patek, Polish watchmaker (b. 1811)

March 24 – Walter Bagehot, British businessman, essayist and journalist (b. 1826)

May 26 – Kido Takayoshi, Japanese statesman (b. 1833)

June 3

* Ludwig Ritter von Köchel, Austrian musicologist (b. 1800)

* Sophie of Württemberg, queen consort of the Netherlands (b. 1818)

July–December

July 27 – John Frost, British Chartist leader (b. 1784)

August 8 – William Lovett, British Chartist leader (b. 1800)

August 29 – Brigham Young, American Mormon leader (b. 1801)

August 30 – Raphael Semmes, officer in the USN and the CSN (b.1809)

September 2 – Constantine Kanaris, Greek politician (b. 1795)

September 3 – Adolphe Thiers, French historian and politician (b. 1797)

September 5 – Crazy Horse, Oglala Sioux chief (b. 1849)

September 17 – William Fox Talbot, English photographer (b. 1800)

September 24 – Saigō Takamori, samurai (b. 1827)

October 3 – James Roosevelt Bayley, first Bishop of Newark, New Jersey, and the eighth Archbishop of Baltimore (b. 1814)

October 16 – Theodore Barrière, French dramatist (b. 1823)

October 29 – Nathan Bedford Forrest, American Confederate Civil War General

November 2 – Friedrich Graf von Wrangel, Prussian field marshal (b. 1784)

December 12 – José de Alencar, Brazilian novelist (b. 1829)

December 31 – Gustave Courbet, French painter (b. 1819)

References

Michael A. Bellesiles. ''1877: America's Year of Living Violently'' (New Press; 2010)

References

af:1877 am:1877 እ.ኤ.አ. ar:ملحق:1877 an:1877 ast:1877 gn:1877 az:1877 bn:১৮৭৭ zh-min-nan:1877 nî map-bms:1877 be:1877 be-x-old:1877 bh:१८७७ bcl:1877 bs:1877 br:1877 bg:1877 ca:1877 cv:1877 cs:1877 cbk-zam:1877 co:1877 cy:1877 da:1877 de:1877 et:1877 el:1877 myv:1877 ие es:1877 eo:1877 eu:1877 fa:۱۸۷۷ (میلادی) hif:1877 fo:1877 fr:1877 fy:1877 fur:1877 ga:1877 gv:1877 gd:1877 gl:1877 gan:1877年 ko:1877년 hy:1877 hi:१८७७ hr:1877. io:1877 bpy:মারি ১৮৭৭ id:1877 ia:1877 os:1877-æм аз is:1877 it:1877 he:1877 jv:1877 kn:೧೮೭೭ ka:1877 csb:1877 sw:1877 ht:1877 (almanak gregoryen) krc:1877 джыл la:1877 lv:1877. gads lb:1877 lt:1877 m. li:1877 lmo:1877 hu:1877 mk:1877 mi:1877 mr:इ.स. १८७७ arz:1877 ms:1877 nah:1877 nl:1877 ne:१८७७ new:ई सं १८७७ ja:1877年 nap:1877 no:1877 nn:1877 nrm:1877 nov:1877 oc:1877 mhr:1877 uz:1877 pi:१८७७ pnb:1877 nds:1877 pl:1877 pt:1877 ksh:Joohr 1877 ro:1877 qu:1877 rue:1877 ru:1877 год sah:1877 se:1877 stq:1877 sq:1877 scn:1877 simple:1877 sk:1877 sl:1877 ckb:١٨٧٧ sr:1877 sh:1877 su:1877 fi:1877 sv:1877 tl:1877 ta:1877 tt:1877 ел te:1877 tet:1877 th:พ.ศ. 2420 tr:1877 tk:1877 uk:1877 ur:1877ء vec:1877 vi:1877 vo:1877 fiu-vro:1877 wa:1877 vls:1877 war:1877 yi:1877 yo:1877 zh-yue:1877年 diq:1877 bat-smg:1877 zh:1877年

A computer repair technician is a person who repairs and maintains computers and servers. The technician's responsibilities may extend to include building or configuring new hardware, installing and updating software packages, and creating and maintaining computer networks. Computer repair technicians work in a variety of settings, encompassing both the public and private sectors. Because of the relatively brief existence of the profession, institutions offer certificate and degree programs designed to prepare new technicians, but computer repairs are frequently performed by experienced and certified technicians who have little formal training in the field.

A repair technician might work in a corporate information technology department, a central service center, or a retail computer sales environment. A public sector technician might work in the military, national security or law enforcement communities, health or public safety field, or an educational institution. Despite the vast variety of work environments, all computer technicians perform similar physical and investigative processes, including technical support. Experienced technicians might specialize in fields such as data recovery, system administration, or information systems. Some technicians are self-employed or own a firm that provides services in a regional area. Some are subcontracted as freelancers or consultants. This type of technician ranges from hobbyists and enthusiasts that volunteer or make a little side money, to those who work professionally in the field.

Computer malfunctions can range from a minor setting that is incorrect, to spyware, viruses, and as far as replacing hardware or an entire operating system. Some technicians provide on-site services usually at an hourly rate. Others can provide services off-site, where the client can drop off at the repair shop. Some have pickup and drop off services for convenience. Some technicians may also take back old equipment for recycling (In the EU, this is required under WEEE rules).

Hardware repair

While computer hardware configuration varies widely, a repair technician will work with five general categories of hardware; desktop computers, laptops, servers, computer clusters and smartphones / mobile computing. Technicians also work with and occasionally repair a range of peripherals, including input devices (like keyboards, mice, and scanners), output devices (like displays, printers, and speakers), and data storage devices such as internal and external hard drives and disk arrays. Technicians involved in system administration might also work with networking hardware, including routers, switches, fiber optics, and wireless networks.

Software repair

When possible, repair technicians protect the computer user's data and settings, so that after repair, the user will not have lost any data and the technician can fully use the device with little interruption, and then diagnose the problem. Addressing the issue, the technician could take action as minor as adjusting one or several settings or preferences, but could also apply more involved techniques like installing, uninstalling, or reinstalling various software packages. A reliable, but somewhat more complicated, procedure for addressing software issues is known as a restore, in which the computer's original installation image (including operating system and original applications) is reapplied to a formatted hard drive. It should be known though, that anything unique, such as settings, or personal files will be destroyed if not backed up on external media, as this reverts everything back to its original unused state.

See also

Information systems technician

Rework (electronics)

Notes

References

Overview of job scope

Job description from a public school district

Category:Computer occupations Computer repair technician Category:Technicians

he:טכנאי מחשבים

Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 18333 April 1897) was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene. In his lifetime, Brahms' popularity and influence were considerable; following a comment by the nineteenth-century conductor Hans von Bülow, he is sometimes grouped with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven as one of the Three Bs.

Brahms composed for piano, chamber ensembles, symphony orchestra, and for voice and chorus. A virtuoso pianist, he premiered many of his own works; he also worked with some of the leading performers of his time, including the pianist Clara Schumann and the violinist Joseph Joachim. Many of his works have become staples of the modern concert repertoire. Brahms, an uncompromising perfectionist, destroyed many of his works and left some of them unpublished.

Brahms is often considered both a traditionalist and an innovator. His music is firmly rooted in the structures and compositional techniques of the Baroque and Classical masters. He was a master of counterpoint, the complex and highly disciplined method of composition for which Johann Sebastian Bach is famous, and also of development, a compositional ethos pioneered by Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Brahms aimed to honour the "purity" of these venerable "German" structures and advance them into a Romantic idiom, in the process creating bold new approaches to harmony and melody. While many contemporaries found his music too academic, his contribution and craftsmanship have been admired by subsequent figures as diverse as the progressive Arnold Schoenberg and the conservative Edward Elgar. The diligent, highly constructed nature of Brahms's works was a starting point and an inspiration for a generation of composers.

Life

Early years

Brahms's father, Johann Jakob Brahms (1806–72), came to Hamburg from Dithmarschen, seeking a career as a town musician. He was proficient in several instruments, but found employment mostly playing the horn and double bass. In 1830, he married Johanna Henrika Christiane Nissen (1789–1865), a seamstress never previously married, who was seventeen years older than he was. Johannes Brahms had an older sister and a younger brother. Initially, they lived near the city docks, in the Gängeviertel quarter of Hamburg, for six months, before moving to a small house on the Dammtorwall, a small city in the Inner Alster.

Johann Jakob gave his son his first musical training. He studied piano from the age of seven with Otto Friedrich Willibald Cossel. Owing to the family's poverty, as a boy Brahms played in dance halls and brothels – some of the seediest places in Hamburg – surrounded by drunken sailors and prostitutes that often fondled the boy as he played. Early biographers found this shocking and played down this portion of his life. Modern writers have pointed to this as a reason for Brahms' later inability to have a successful relationship for marriage, etc., his view of women being warped by his experiences. Recently, Brahms scholars Styra Avins and Kurt Hoffman have suggested that this legend is false. Since Brahms himself clearly originated the story, however, some have questioned Hoffman's theory.

For a time, Brahms also learned the cello. After his early piano lessons with Otto Cossel, Brahms studied piano with Eduard Marxsen, who had studied in Vienna with Ignaz von Seyfried (a pupil of Mozart) and Carl Maria von Bocklet (a close friend of Schubert). The young Brahms gave a few public concerts in Hamburg, but did not become well known as a pianist until he made a concert tour at the age of nineteen. (In later life, he frequently took part in the performance of his own works, whether as soloist, accompanist, or participant in chamber music.) He conducted choirs from his early teens, and became a proficient choral and orchestral conductor.

Meeting Joachim and Liszt

He began to compose quite early in life, but later destroyed most copies of his first works; for instance, Louise Japha, a fellow-pupil of Marxsen, reported a piano sonata that Brahms had played or improvised at the age of 11. His compositions did not receive public acclaim until he went on a concert tour as accompanist to the Hungarian violinist Eduard Reményi in April and May 1853. On this tour he met Joseph Joachim at Hanover, and went on to the Court of Weimar where he met Franz Liszt, Peter Cornelius, and Joachim Raff. According to several witnesses of Brahms's meeting with Liszt (at which Liszt performed Brahms's Scherzo, Op. 4, at sight), Reményi was offended by Brahms's failure to praise Liszt's Sonata in B minor wholeheartedly (Brahms supposedly fell asleep during a performance of the recently composed work), and they parted company shortly afterwards. Brahms later excused himself, saying that he could not help it, having been exhausted by his travels.

Brahms and Schumann

Joachim had given Brahms a letter of introduction to Robert Schumann, and after a walking tour in the Rhineland, Brahms took the train to Düsseldorf, and was welcomed into the Schumann family on arrival there. Schumann, amazed by the 20-year-old's talent, published an article entitled "''Neue Bahnen''" (New Paths) in the 28 October 1853 issue of the journal ''Neue Zeitschrift für Musik'' alerting the public to the young man, who, he claimed, was "destined to give ideal expression to the times." This pronouncement was received with some skepticism outside of Schumann's immediate circle, and may have increased Brahms's naturally self-critical need to perfect his works and technique. While he was in Düsseldorf, Brahms participated with Schumann and Albert Dietrich in writing a sonata for Joachim; this is known as the "F–A–E Sonata" (). He became very attached to Schumann's wife, the composer and pianist Clara, fourteen years his senior, with whom he would carry on a lifelong, emotionally passionate relationship. Brahms never married, despite strong feelings for several women and despite entering into an engagement, soon broken off, with Agathe von Siebold in Göttingen in 1859. After Schumann's attempted suicide and subsequent confinement in a mental sanatorium near Bonn in February 1854, Brahms was the main intercessor between Clara and her husband, and found himself virtually head of the household.

After Schumann's death, Brahms hurried to Düsseldorf and for the next two years lived in an apartment above the Schumann's house, and sacrificed his career and his art for Clara's sake. The question of Brahms and Clara Schumann is perhaps the most mysterious in music history, alongside that of Beethoven's "Immortal Beloved." Whether they were actually lovers is unknown, but their destruction of their letters to each other may point to something beyond mere privacy.

Detmold and Hamburg

After Schumann's death at the sanatorium in 1856, Brahms divided his time between Hamburg, where he formed and conducted a ladies' choir, and the principality of Detmold, where he was court music-teacher and conductor. He was the soloist at the premiere of his Piano Concerto No. 1 in 1859. He first visited Vienna in 1862, staying there over the winter, and, in 1863, was appointed conductor of the Vienna ''Singakademie''. Though he resigned the position the following year, and entertained the idea of taking up conducting posts elsewhere, he based himself increasingly in Vienna and soon made his home there. From 1872 to 1875, he was director of the concerts of the Vienna ''Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde''; afterwards, he accepted no formal position. He declined an honorary doctorate of music from University of Cambridge in 1877, but accepted one from the University of Breslau in 1879, and composed the ''Academic Festival Overture'' as a gesture of appreciation.

He had been composing steadily throughout the 1850s and 60s, but his music had evoked divided critical responses, and the Piano Concerto No. 1 had been badly received in some of its early performances. His works were labelled old-fashioned by the 'New German School' whose principal figures included Liszt and Richard Wagner. Brahms admired some of Wagner's music and admired Liszt as a great pianist, but the conflict between the two schools, known as the War of the Romantics, soon embroiled all of musical Europe. In the Brahms camp were his close friends: Clara Schumann, the influential music critic Eduard Hanslick, and the leading Viennese surgeon Theodor Billroth. In 1860, Brahms attempted to organize a public protest against some of the wilder excesses of the Wagnerians' music. This took the form of a manifesto, written by Brahms and Joachim jointly. The manifesto, which was published prematurely with only three supporting signatures, was a failure, and he never engaged in public polemics again.

Years of popularity

It was the premiere of ''A German Requiem'', his largest choral work, in Bremen, in 1868, that confirmed Brahms's European reputation and led many to accept that he had conquered Beethoven and the symphony. This may have given him the confidence finally to complete a number of works that he had wrestled with over many years, such as the cantata ''Rinaldo'', his first string quartet, third piano quartet, and most notably his first symphony. This appeared in 1876, though it had been begun (and a version of the first movement seen by some of his friends) in the early 1860s. The other three symphonies then followed in 1877, 1883, and 1885. From 1881, he was able to try out his new orchestral works with the court orchestra of the Duke of Meiningen, whose conductor was Hans von Bülow. He was the soloist at the premiere of his Piano Concerto No. 2 in 1881, in Pest.

Brahms frequently travelled, both for business (concert tours) and pleasure. From 1878 onwards, he often visited Italy in the springtime, and he usually sought out a pleasant rural location in which to compose during the summer. He was a great walker and especially enjoyed spending time in the open air, where he felt that he could think more clearly.

In 1889, one Theo Wangemann, a representative of American inventor Thomas Edison, visited the composer in Vienna and invited him to make an experimental recording. Brahms played an abbreviated version of his first Hungarian dance on the piano. The recording was later issued on an LP of early piano performances (compiled by Gregor Benko). Although the spoken introduction to the short piece of music is quite clear, the piano playing is largely inaudible due to heavy surface noise. Nevertheless, this remains the earliest recording made by a major composer. Analysts and scholars remain divided, however, as to whether the voice that introduces the piece is that of Wangemann or of Brahms. Several attempts have been made to improve the quality of this historic recording; a "denoised" version was produced at Stanford University which claims to solve the mystery.

In 1889, Brahms was named an honorary citizen of Hamburg, until 1948 the only one born in Hamburg.

Later years

In 1890, the 57-year-old Brahms resolved to give up composing. However, as it turned out, he was unable to abide by his decision, and in the years before his death he produced a number of acknowledged masterpieces. His admiration for Richard Mühlfeld, clarinetist with the Meiningen orchestra, moved him to compose the Clarinet Trio, Op. 114, Clarinet Quintet, Op. 115 (1891), and the two Clarinet Sonatas, Op. 120 (1894). He also wrote several cycles of piano pieces, Opp. 116–119, the ''Four Serious Songs'' (''Vier ernste Gesänge''), Op. 121 (1896), and the Eleven Chorale Preludes for organ, Op. 122 (1896).

While completing the Op. 121 songs, Brahms developed cancer (sources differ on whether this was of the liver or pancreas). His condition gradually worsened and he died on April 3, 1897, aged 63. Brahms is buried in the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna.

Music of Brahms

Works

Brahms wrote a number of major works for orchestra, including two serenades, four symphonies, two piano concertos (No. 1 in D minor; No. 2 in B flat major), a Violin Concerto, a Double Concerto for violin and cello, and two companion orchestral overtures, the ''Academic Festival Overture'' and the ''Tragic Overture''.

His large choral work ''A German Requiem'' is not a setting of the liturgical ''Missa pro defunctis'' but a setting of texts which Brahms selected from the Lutheran Bible. The work was composed in three major periods of his life. An early version of the second movement was first composed in 1854, not long after Robert Schumann's attempted suicide, and this was later used in his first piano concerto. The majority of the Requiem was composed after his mother's death in 1865. The fifth movement was added after the official premiere in 1868, and the work was published in 1869.

Brahms's works in variation form include, among others, the ''Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel'' and the ''Paganini Variations'', both for solo piano, and the ''Variations on a Theme by Haydn'' in versions for two pianos and for orchestra. The final movement of the Fourth Symphony, Op. 98, is formally a passacaglia.

His chamber works include three string quartets, two string quintets, two string sextets, a clarinet quintet, a clarinet trio, a horn trio, a piano quintet, three piano quartets, and four piano trios (the fourth being published posthumously). He composed several instrumental sonatas with piano, including three for violin, two for cello, and two for clarinet (which were subsequently arranged for viola by the composer). His solo piano works range from his early piano sonatas and ballades to his late sets of character pieces. Brahms was a significant lieder composer, who wrote over 200 songs. His chorale preludes for organ, Op. 122, which he wrote shortly before his death, have become an important part of the organist's repertoire.

Brahms strongly preferred writing absolute music that does not refer to an explicit scene or narrative, and he never wrote an opera or a symphonic poem.

Despite his reputation as a serious composer of large, complex musical structures, some of Brahms's most widely known and most commercially successful compositions during his life were small-scale works of popular intent aimed at the thriving contemporary market for domestic music-making; indeed, during the 20th century, the influential American critic B. H. Haggin, rejecting more mainstream views, argued in his various guides to recorded music that Brahms was at his best in such works and much less successful in larger forms. Among the most cherished of these lighter works by Brahms are his sets of popular dances—the Hungarian Dances, the ''Waltzes'', Op. 39, for piano duet, and the ''Liebeslieder Waltzes'' for vocal quartet and piano—and some of his many songs, notably the ''Wiegenlied'', Op. 49, No. 4 (published in 1868). This last was written (to a folk text) to celebrate the birth of a son to Brahms's friend Bertha Faber and is universally known as ''Brahms's Lullaby''.

Style and influences

Brahms maintained a Classical sense of form and order in his works – in contrast to the opulence of the music of many of his contemporaries. Thus many admirers (though not necessarily Brahms himself) saw him as the champion of traditional forms and "pure music", as opposed to the "New German" embrace of programme music.

Brahms venerated Beethoven: in the composer's home, a marble bust of Beethoven looked down on the spot where he composed, and some passages in his works are reminiscent of Beethoven's style. Brahms's First Symphony bears strongly a homage (or influence) from Beethoven's Fifth Symphony as the two works are both in a formidable C Minor, and end in the struggle towards a C Major triumph. The main theme of the finale of the First Symphony is also reminiscent of the main theme of the finale of Beethoven's Ninth, and when this resemblance was pointed out to Brahms, he replied that any ass – ''jeder Esel'' – could see that. In 1876, when the work was premiered in Vienna, it was immediately hailed as "Beethoven's Tenth".

''A German Requiem'' was partially inspired by his mother's death in 1865 (at which time he composed a funeral march that was to become the basis of Part Two, ''Denn alles Fleisch''), but it also incorporates material from a Symphony which he started in 1854 but abandoned following Schumann's suicide attempt. He once wrote that the Requiem "belonged to Schumann". The first movement of this abandoned Symphony was re-worked as the first movement of the First Piano Concerto.

Brahms also loved the Classical composers Mozart and Haydn. He collected first editions and autographs of their works, and edited performing editions. He also studied the music of pre-classical composers, including Giovanni Gabrieli, Johann Adolph Hasse, Heinrich Schütz, George Frideric Handel, and, especially, Johann Sebastian Bach. His friends included leading musicologists, and, with Friedrich Chrysander, he edited an edition of the works of François Couperin. He looked to older music for inspiration in the arts of strict counterpoint; the themes of some of his works are modelled on Baroque sources such as Bach's The Art of Fugue in the fugal finale of Cello Sonata No. 1 or the same composer's Cantata No. 150 in the passacaglia theme of the Fourth Symphony's ''finale''.

The early Romantic composers also had a major influence on Brahms, particularly Schumann, who encouraged Brahms as a young composer. During his stay in Vienna in 1862–63, Brahms became particularly interested in the music of Franz Schubert. The latter's influence may be identified in works by Brahms dating from the period, such as the two piano quartets Op. 25 and Op. 26, and the Piano Quintet which alludes to Schubert's String Quintet and Grand Duo for piano four hands. The influence of Chopin and Mendelssohn on Brahms is less obvious, although occasionally one can find in his works what seems to be an allusion to one of theirs (for example, Brahms's Scherzo, Op. 4, alludes to Chopin's Scherzo in B-flat minor; the scherzo movement in Brahms's Piano Sonata in F minor, Op. 5, alludes to the finale of Mendelssohn's Piano Trio in C minor).

Brahms considered giving up composition when it seemed that other composers' innovations in extended tonality would result in the rule of tonality being broken altogether. Although Wagner became fiercely critical of Brahms as the latter grew in stature and popularity, he was enthusiastically receptive of the early Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel; Brahms himself, according to many sources (Swafford, 1999), deeply admired Wagner's music, confining his ambivalence only to the dramaturgical precepts of Wagner's theory.

Brahms wrote settings for piano and voice of 144 German folk songs, and many of his lieder reflect folk themes or depict scenes of rural life. His ''Hungarian Dances'' were among his most profitable compositions.

Brahms and religion

Despite Brahms' humanist and sceptical tendencies, it is certain one of his musical influences was the Bible. He was reared to appreciate Luther's translation. His "Requiem" employs biblical texts to convey a humanist message, omitting words about salvation or immortality, and focuses on the living rather than the dead. Author Walter Niemann declared, "The fact that Brahms began his creative activity with the German folk song and closed with the Bible reveals... the true religious creed of this great man of the people." Some biographers and critics, however, see Brahms as more of a cultural Lutheran who embraced the cultural aspects of his upbringing but may or may not have adopted the religious beliefs. When asked by conductor Karl Reinthaler to add additional sectarian text to his "requiem", Brahms responded, "As far as the text is concerned, I confess that I would gladly omit even the word German and instead use Human; also with my best knowledge and will I would dispense with passages like John 3:16. On the other hand, I have chosen one thing or another because I am a musician, because I needed it, and because with my venerable authors I can't delete or dispute anything. But I had better stop before I say too much."

There is reason to believe that Brahms was a religious freethinker. Being a star of his age, he would frequently say deceptive things to the public. This means that the most reliable accounts on Brahms's innermost feelings may come from the people in the close circle around him. Among these was the pious Antonín Dvořák, the closest Brahms ever would come to having a protégé. In a letter, Dvořák disclosed his concerns regarding Brahms's religious views: "Such a man, such a fine soul—and he believes in nothing! He believes in nothing!"

The question of Brahms and religiosity has been controversial and elicited accusations of fraud. One example is the book ''Talks With Great Composers'' by Arthur Abell which contains an unconfirmed interview with Brahms and Joseph Joachim replete with biblical references. The book was released in the 1950s and Brahms biographer Jan Swafford declared the interview fraudulent.

Influence

Brahms's point of view looked both backward and forward; his output was often bold in its exploration of harmony and rhythm. As a result, he was an influence on composers of both conservative and modernist tendencies. Within his lifetime, his idiom left an imprint on several composers within his personal circle, who were strong admirers of his music, such as Heinrich von Herzogenberg, Robert Fuchs, and Julius Röntgen, as well as on Gustav Jenner, who was Brahms's only formal composition pupil. Antonín Dvořák, who received substantial assistance from Brahms, deeply admired his music and was influenced by it in several works such as the Symphony No 7 in D minor and the F minor Piano Trio. Features of the 'Brahms style' were absorbed in a more complex synthesis with other contemporary (chiefly Wagnerian) trends by Hans Rott, Wilhelm Berger, Max Reger and Franz Schmidt, whereas the British composers Hubert Parry and Edward Elgar and the Swede Wilhelm Stenhammar all testified to learning much from Brahms's example. It was Elgar who said, "I look at the Third Symphony of Brahms, and I feel like a pygmy."

Ferruccio Busoni's early music shows much Brahmsian influence, and Brahms took an interest in him, though Busoni later tended to disparage Brahms. Towards the end of his life, Brahms offered substantial encouragement to Ernő Dohnányi and also to Alexander von Zemlinsky. Their early chamber works (and those of Béla Bartók, who was friendly with Dohnányi) show a thoroughgoing absorption of the Brahmsian idiom. Zemlinsky, moreover, was in turn the teacher of Arnold Schoenberg, and Brahms was apparently impressed by two movements of Schoenberg's early Quartet in D major which Zemlinsky showed him. In 1933, Schoenberg wrote an essay "Brahms the Progressive" (re-written 1947), which drew attention to Brahms's fondness for motivic saturation and irregularities of rhythm and phrase; in his last book (''Structural Functions of Harmony'', 1948), he analysed Brahms's "enriched harmony" and exploration of remote tonal regions. These efforts paved the way for a re-evaluation of Brahms's reputation in the 20th century. Schoenberg went so far as to orchestrate one of Brahms's piano quartets. Schoenberg's pupil Anton Webern, in his 1933 lectures, posthumously published under the title ''The Path to the New Music'', claimed Brahms as one who had anticipated the developments of the Second Viennese School, and Webern's own Op. 1, an orchestral passacaglia, is clearly in part a homage to, and development of, the variation techniques of the passacaglia-finale of Brahms's Fourth Symphony.

Brahms was honoured by the German Hall of Fame, the Walhalla temple. On 14 September 2000, he was introduced there as the 126th "''rühmlich ausgezeichneter Teutscher''" and 13th composer among them, with a bust by sculptor Milan Knobloch.

Personality

Like Beethoven, Brahms was fond of nature and often went walking in the woods around Vienna. He often brought penny candy with him to hand out to children. To adults, Brahms was often brusque and sarcastic, and he sometimes alienated other people. His pupil Gustav Jenner wrote, "Brahms has acquired, not without reason, the reputation for being a grump, even though few could also be as lovable as he." He also had predictable habits, which were noted by the Viennese press, such as his daily visit to his favourite "Red Hedgehog" tavern in Vienna, and the press also particularly took into account his style of walking with his hands firmly behind his back complete with a caricature of him in this pose walking alongside a red hedgehog. Those who remained his friends were very loyal to him, however, and he reciprocated with equal loyalty and generosity.

Brahms had amassed a small fortune in the second half of his career, around 1860, when his works sold widely. But despite his wealth, he lived very simply, with a modest apartment – a mess of music papers and books – and a single housekeeper who cleaned and cooked for him. He was often the butt of jokes for his long beard, his cheap clothes and often not wearing socks, etc. Brahms gave away large sums of money to friends and to aid various musical students, often with the term of strict secrecy. Brahms' domicile was hit during World War II, destroying his piano and other possessions that were still kept there for posterity by the Viennese.

Brahms was a lifelong friend of Johann Strauss II, though they were very different as composers. Brahms even struggled to get to the Theater an der Wien in Vienna for the premiere of Strauss's operetta ''Die Göttin der Vernunft'' in 1897 before his death. Perhaps the greatest tribute that Brahms could pay to Strauss was his remark that he would have given anything to have written ''The Blue Danube'' waltz. An anecdote dating around the time Brahms became acquainted with Strauss is that when Strauss's wife Adele asked Brahms to autograph her fan, he wrote a few notes from the "Blue Danube" waltz, and then cheekily inscribed the words "Alas, not by Brahms!"

Brahms was an extreme perfectionist. He destroyed many early works – including a Violin Sonata he had performed with Reményi and violinist Ferdinand David – and once claimed to have destroyed 20 string quartets before he issued his official First in 1873. Over the course of several years, he changed an original project for a symphony in D minor into his first piano concerto. In another instance of devotion to detail, he laboured over the official First Symphony for almost fifteen years, from about 1861 to 1876. Even after its first few performances, Brahms destroyed the original slow movement and substituted another before the score was published. (A conjectural restoration of the original slow movement has been published by Robert Pascall.) Another factor that contributed to Brahms's perfectionism was that Schumann had announced early on that Brahms was to become the next great composer like Beethoven, a prediction that Brahms was determined to live up to. This prediction hardly added to the composer's self-confidence, and may have contributed to the delay in producing the First Symphony. However, Clara Schumann noted before that Brahms's First Symphony was a product that was not reflective of Brahms's real nature. She felt that the final exuberant movement was "too brilliant", as she was encouraged by the dark and tempestuous opening movement she had seen in an early draft. However, she recanted in accepting the Second Symphony, which has often been seen in modern times as one of his sunniest works. Other contemporaries, however, found the first movement especially dark, and Reinhold Brinkmann, in a study of Symphony No. 2 in relation to 19th century ideas of melancholy, has published a revealing letter from Brahms to the composer and conductor Vinzenz Lachner in which Brahms confesses to the melancholic side of his nature and comments on specific features of the movement that reflect this.

International Johannes Brahms Competition

Further reading

Deiters/Newmarch. (1888). ''Johannes Brahms: A Biographical Sketch''. Fisher Unwin (reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2009; ISBN 9781108004794)

''Johannes Brahms: Life and Letters'', ISBN 0-19-816234-0 by Brahms himself, edited by Styra Avins, translated by Josef Eisinger (1998). A biography by way of comprehensive footnotes to a comprehensive collection of Brahms's letters (some translated into English for the first time). Elucidates some previously contentious matters, such as Brahms's reasons for declining the Cambridge invitation.

''Brahms, His Life and Work'', by Karl Geiringer, photographs by Irene Geiringer (1987, ISBN 0-306-80223-6). A biog and discussion of his musical output, supplemented by, and cross-referenced with, the body of correspondence sent ''to'' Brahms.

Charles Rosen discusses a number of Brahms's imitations of Beethoven in Chapter 9 of his ''Critical Entertainments: Music Old and New'' (2000; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, ISBN 0-674-17730-4).

''Brahms'' by Malcolm MacDonald is a biography and also discussion of virtually everything Brahms composed, along with chapters examining his position in Romantic music, his devotion to Early Music, and his influence on later composers. (Dent 'Master Musicians' series, 1990; 2nd edition Oxford, 2001, ISBN 0-19-816484-X

''Johannes Brahms: A Biography'', by Jan Swafford. A comprehensive (752 pages) look at the life and works of Brahms. (1999; Vintage, ISBN 0-679-74582-3)

''Late Idyll: The Second Symphony of Johannes Brahms'', by Reinhold Brinkmann, translated by Peter Palmer. An analysis of Symphony No.2 and meditation of its position in Brahms's career and in relation to 19th century ideas of melancholy. (1995, Harvard, ISBN 0-674-51175-1)

''Johannes Brahms, His Work & Personality'', by Hans Gal (Translated by Joseph Stein). Wiedenfeld & Nicolson, 1963.

''The Music of Brahms'', by Michael Musgrave. Oxford, 1985 ISBN 0-19-816401-7

References

External links

Brahms Institut, Lübeck Academy of Music

The Lied and Art Song Texts Page created and mantained from Emily Ezust Texts of the Lieder of Brahms with translations in various languages.

"What's late about late Brahms?": an article in the TLS by Peter Williams, 7 November 2007

Brahms at the Piano. Information about the recording made by Thomas Edison in 1889 of Brahms playing part of his Hungarian Dance No. 1 in G minor.

Johannes Brahms: list of works from http://www.johannesbrahms.org

Photo of Brahms as a young man in 1853

Brahms Listening Guides. A collection in progress of detailed guides to the composer's works, linked to specific recordings but also including measure numbers

Listings of live performances at Bachtrack

johannes brahms biography

Sheet music

Complete collection of scores at the Brahms Institut in Breitkopf & Härtel or Simrock editions; work details

Brahms’ scores – selection of printable works.

www.kreusch-sheet-music.net Brahms's piano works

Free scores of Brahms Lieder and orchestral works in GIF format from the Variations Project at Indiana University. Last accessed 14 August 2008.

Free scores Mutopia Project

Recordings

Free audio MP3 of some Brahms's works OnClassical – Creative Commons BY-NC-SA, 1.0 licensed

Johannes Brahms – Violin Sonatas MP3 Creative Commons Recording

Fünf Gesänge, Op. 104 (Brahms): Free MP3s (Op. 42, Op. 93a, Op. 104 and Op. 52)

Kunst der Fuge: Johannes Brahms – MIDI files Daily limit of 5 files.

Works by Brahms performed on virtual organs

Classic Cat – Brahms – mp3s

Performances of works by Johannes Brahms in MIDI and MP3 formats at Logos Virtual Library

Category:German composers Category:Composers for pipe organ Category:Romantic composers Category:Viennese composers Category:German classical pianists Category:German Lutherans Category:Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) Category:Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medallists Category:Walhalla enshrinees Category:Hamburg musicians Category:Burials at the Zentralfriedhof Category:Austrian people of German descent Category:19th-century German people Category:1833 births Category:1897 deaths Category:Deaths from liver cancer Category:Honorary Members of the Royal Philharmonic Society Category:Members of the Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art

af:Johannes Brahms ar:يوهانس برامس an:Johannes Brahms az:Yohans Brams zh-min-nan:Johannes Brahms ba:Йоһаннес Брамс be:Іаганес Брамс be-x-old:Ёганэс Брамс bs:Johannes Brahms br:Johannes Brahms bg:Йоханес Брамс ca:Johannes Brahms cs:Johannes Brahms co:Johannes Brahms cy:Johannes Brahms da:Johannes Brahms de:Johannes Brahms et:Johannes Brahms el:Γιοχάνες Μπραμς es:Johannes Brahms eo:Johannes Brahms eu:Johannes Brahms fa:یوهانس برامس hif:Johannes Brahms fr:Johannes Brahms gv:Johannes Brahms gl:Johannes Brahms ko:요하네스 브람스 hy:Յոհաննես Բրամս hr:Johannes Brahms io:Johannes Brahms id:Johannes Brahms is:Johannes Brahms it:Johannes Brahms he:יוהנס ברהמס ka:იოჰანეს ბრამსი sw:Johannes Brahms la:Iohannes Brahms lv:Johanness Brāmss lb:Johannes Brahms lt:Johannes Brahms lij:Johannes Brahms hu:Johannes Brahms kk:Брамс, Йоғаннес mk:Јоханес Брамс ml:ജൊഹാൻ ബ്രാംസ് mr:योहान्स ब्राह्म्स arz:يوهانيس برامس mn:Иоханнес Роберт Брамс nl:Johannes Brahms ja:ヨハネス・ブラームス no:Johannes Brahms nn:Johannes Brahms oc:Johannes Brahms pnb:یوہانز براہمز pms:Johannes Brahms nds:Johannes Brahms pl:Johannes Brahms pt:Johannes Brahms kaa:Johannes Brahms ro:Johannes Brahms qu:Johannes Brahms rue:Йоганнес Брамс ru:Брамс, Иоганнес sah:Брамс Иоганнес sq:Johannes Brahms scn:Johannes Brahms simple:Johannes Brahms sk:Johannes Brahms sl:Johannes Brahms ckb:یۆهانس برامز sr:Јоханес Брамс sh:Johannes Brahms fi:Johannes Brahms sv:Johannes Brahms ta:ஜொகான்னெஸ் பிராம்ஸ் th:โยฮันเนส บราห์ม tr:Johannes Brahms uk:Йоганнес Брамс ur:یوہانس براہمز vi:Johannes Brahms vo:Johannes Brahms war:Johannes Brahms bat-smg:Johannes Brahms zh:约翰内斯·勃拉姆斯

Coordinates	37°46′45.48″N122°25′9.12″N
name	Louis Farrakhan Muhammad, Sr.
birth name	Louis Eugene Walcott
birth place	born in The Bronx, New York City
order	Head of the Nation of Islam
term start	1978/1981
predecessor	Warith Deen Muhammad
birth date	May 11, 1933
birth place	the Bronx, New York CityNew York, U.S.
nationality	American
alma mater	English High School of Boston
religion	Nation of Islam
relations	Dr. Akbar Muhammad, Ph.D, Jabir Herbert Muhammad
spouse	Khadijah Farrakhan }}

Louis Farrakhan Muhammad, Sr. (born Louis Eugene Walcott; May 11, 1933) is the leader of the Chicago-based Nation of Islam (NOI). He served as the minister of major mosques in Boston and Harlem, and was appointed by the longtime NOI leader, Elijah Muhammad, before his death in 1975, as the National Representative of the Nation of Islam. After Warith Deen Muhammad disbanded the NOI and started the orthodox Islamic group American Society of Muslims, Farrakhan started rebuilding the NOI. In 1981 he revived the name Nation of Islam for his organization, previously known as Final Call, regaining many of the Nation of Islam's National properties including the NOI National Headquarters Mosque Maryam, reopening over 130 NOI mosques in America and the world.

Farrakhan is a black religious and social leader and a critic of the United States government on many issues. Farrakhan has been both praised and widely criticized for his often controversial political views and outspoken rhetorical style. In October 1995, he organized and led the Million Man March in Washington, D.C., calling on black men to renew their commitments to their families and communities. Due to health issues, in 2007, Farrakhan reduced his responsibilities with the NOI.

Early life and education

He was born Louis Eugene Walcott (also spelled Wolcott) in 1933 in The Bronx, New York, the younger of two sons of Sarah Mae Manning (16 January 1900 – 18 November 1988) and Percival Clark, immigrants from the Caribbean islands. His mother was born in Saint Kitts and Nevis. His father was a Jamaican native and worked as a taxicab driver. After Louis' father died in 1936, the Walcott family moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where they settled in the West Indian neighborhood of the Roxbury area.

Starting at the age of six, Walcott received rigorous training in the violin. He received his first violin at the age of six, and by time he turned thirteen years old, he had played with the Boston College Orchestra, and the Boston Civic Symphony. A year later, he went on to win national competitions. In 1946, he was one of the first Black performers to appear on the Ted Mack ''Original Amateur Hour'', where he also won an award. He and his family were active members of the Episcopal St. Cyprian's Church in Roxbury, Massachusetts.

Walcott attended the prestigious Boston Latin School, and later the English High School, from which he graduated. He completed three years of college at Winston-Salem Teachers College, where he had a track scholarship.

Marriage and family

Walcott was married to Betsy Ross while he was in college. (She later took the name Khadijah Farrakhan). She still lived in Boston, Massachusetts, and was pregnant with their child. Due to complications from the pregnancy, Walcott dropped out after completing his junior year of college to devote time to her, and soon-to-be child.

Career

In the 1950s, Walcott started his professional music career by recording several calypso albums as a singer under the name "The Charmer". He also performed on tour. After converting to Islam, Elijah Muhammad replaced his "X" with the "holy name" Farrakhan, an Arabic name meaning 'charmer'. In February 1955, using part of his middle name, Eugene, "Calypso Gene" was headlining a show in Chicago, Illinois, entitled "Calypso Follies." One of his songs was on the top 100 Billboard Chart for five years in a row. There he first came in contact with the teachings of the Nation of Islam (NOI) through Rodney Smith, a friend and saxophonist from Boston, Massachusetts. Walcott and his wife Betty were invited to the Nation of Islam's annual Saviours' Day address by Elijah Muhammad. Prior to going to Saviour's Day, due to then-Minister Malcolm X's popularity in the media, Walcott had never heard of Elijah Muhammad, and like many outside of the Nation of Islam, Walcott thought that Malcolm X was the leader of the Nation of Islam.

In 1955, Walcott fulfilled the requirements to be a registered Muslim/registered believer/registered laborer. He memorized and recited verbatim the 10 questions and answers of the NOI's Student Enrollment. He then wrote a Saviour's Letter that must be sent to the NOI's headquarters in Chicago. The Saviour's Letter must be copied verbatim, and have the identical handwriting of the Nation of Islam's founder, Master Wallace Fard Muhammad. After having the Saviour's Letter reviewed, and approved by the NOI's headquarters in Chicago in July 1955, Walcott received a letter of approval from the Nation of Islam acknowledging his official membership as a registered Muslim/registered believer/registered laborer in the NOI. As a result, he received his "X." The "X" was considered an algebraic placeholder, used to indicate that Nation of Islam's members original African family names had been lost. They acknowledged European surnames were slave names, often assigned by the slaveowners to mark their ownership. Members of the NOI used the "X" while waiting for their Islamic names, which some NOI members received later in their conversion. Hence, Louis Walcott became Louis X.

The summer after Louis' conversion, Elijah Muhammad stated that all musicians in the NOI had to choose between music and the Nation of Islam. Louis X did so only after performing one final event at the Nevel Country Club.

Louis X quickly rose through the ranks. After only nine months of being a registered Muslim in the NOI and a member of Muhammad's Temple of Islam in Boston, Massachusetts, where Malcolm X was the minister, the former calypso-singer turned Muslim became his assistant minister. Eventually he became the official minister after Elijah Muhammad transferred Malcolm X to Muhammad's Temple of Islam No. 7 on West 116th St. in Harlem, New York City. Today the mosque is a Sunni Muslim masjid (mosque) named in honor of Malcolm X, Masjid Malcolm Shabazz. Louis X continued to be mentored by Malcolm X, until his assassination in 1965. After Malcolm X's dismissal from the NOI, and hajj, an Arabic word meaning pilgrimage, to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, several "revolving ministers," meaning ministers who took turns preaching until an official minister was secured at a particular temple, were used at Muhammad's Temple of Islam No. 7 in Harlem. This occurred before and after Malcom's death. The day that Malcom Shabazz died in Harlem, Farrakhan happened to be in Newark, New Jersey on rotation, 45-minutes away from where Malcolm X was assassinated. After Malcolm X's death in 1965, Elijah Muhammad appointed Farrakhan to the two prominent positions that his predecessor, Malcolm X held before being dismissed from the NOI. Farrakhan became the national spokesman/national representative of the NOI until Elijah Muhammad's passing in 1975 (a position Farrakhan still calls himself today). He was also appointed in 1965 minister of the influential Harlem Mosque (Temple), where he served from 1965 to 1975.

Considered by many to be a former (and by some, a present) competitor to Malcolm X, Farrakhan made numerous incendiary statements about him, contributing to what was called a "climate of vilification". This may have contributed to what ultimately led to the assassination of Malcolm X at a time when he was beginning to distance himself from the NOI after his hajj to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Three men from a Newark, New Jersey, NOI mosque were convicted of the killing and served prison sentences. Farrakhan was the keynote speaker at the Newark temple the same day that Malcolm X was assassinated.

Leadership

Warith Deen Mohammed, the seventh son of Elijah and Clara Muhammad, was declared the new leader of the Nation of Islam at the annual Saviour's Day Convention in February 1975, a day after his father died. He made substantial changes to the organization in the late 1970s, taking most members into a closer relationship with traditional (orthodox) Sunni Islam, and renaming the group, Bilalian, and eventually the American Society of Muslims to indicate the apparent change. He rejected the deification of the founder Wallace D. Fard as Allah in person, the mahdi of the Holy Qur'an and messiah of the Bible, welcomed White worshippers who were once considered beneath them devils and enemies in the NOI as equal brothers and friends. In the beginning of these changes, Chief Min. Warith Deen Mohammed gave some Caucasians X's, and extended efforts at inter-religious cooperation and outreach to Christians and Jews. Changing his position and title from Chief Minister Wallace Muhammad to Imam Warith huddin Mohammad, and finally Imam Warith Al-Deen Mohammed, he was responsible for the most massive conversion of over 2,000,000 members of the Nation of Islam to traditional Islam without bloodshed in the United States of America.

Farrakhan joined Imam Warith Al-Deen Mohammed who he followed, and eventually became a Sunni Imam under him for 3 1/2 years from 1975-1978. Imam Mohammed gave Imam Farrakhan two attributes of Allah as his middle names, Abdul-Haleem. In 1978, Imam Farrakhan distanced himself from Mohammed's movement. In a 1990 interview with ''Emerge'' magazine, Farrakhan said that he had become disillusioned and decided to "quietly walk away" rather than cause a schism among the members. In 1978, Farrakhan and a small number of supporters decided to rebuild what they considered the original Nation of Islam upon the foundations established by Wallace Fard Muhammad, and Elijah Muhammad. This was done without publicly stating the intent.

In 1979, Farrakhan's group founded a weekly newspaper entitled ''The Final Call'', Inc. intended to be similar to the original ''Muhammad Speaks '' Newspaper that many allege was started by Malcolm X. It is a mouthpiece for Farrakhan's statements. In 1981, Farrakhan and his supporters held their first Saviour's Day convention in Chicago, Illinois, and took back the name of the Nation of Islam. The event was similar to the earlier Nation's celebrations, last held in Chicago on February 26, 1975. At the convention's keynote address, Farrakhan announced his attempt to restore the Nation of Islam under Elijah Muhammad's teachings.

In October 1989, at a press conference in Washington, DC, Farrakhan described a 1985 vision which he had in the country of Mexico. He was carried up to "a Wheel, or what you call an unidentified flying object", as in the Bible's Book of Ezekiel. During this vision, he heard the voice of Elijah Muhammad, the long-time leader of the Nation of Islam (1934–1975).

On January 12, 1995, Malcolm X's daughter Qubilah Shabazz was arrested for conspiracy to assassinate Farrakhan. According to Stanford University historian Clayborne Carson, "[her family] resented Farrakhan and had good reason to because he was one of those in the Nation responsible for the climate of vilification that resulted in Malcolm X's assassination". Some critics later alleged that the FBI had used paid informant Michael Fitzpatrick to frame Shabazz, who was four years old when her father was killed. Nearly four months later, on the first of May, federal prosecutors dropped their case against Shabazz.

That year in October, Farrakhan convened a broad coalition of one-million men in Washington, D.C., for the Million Man March. Farrakhan and other speakers called for black men to renew their commitments to their families and communities. The event was organized by a wide variety of civil rights and religious organizations and drew men and their sons from across the United States of America. While Farrakhan was the keynote speaker, many other distinguished African American intellectuals addressed the throng including: Maya Angelou; Rosa Parks; Martin Luther King III, Cornel West, Jesse Jackson and Benjamin Chavis. An attorney at the time and not yet a politician, current President of the United States Barack Obama confirmed that he attended the Million Man March. The count however fell far below the hoped-for numbers. The National Parks Service estimated that approximately 440,000 were in attendance . In 2005, together with other prominent African Americans such as the New Black Panther Party leader Malik Zulu Shabazz, the activist Al Sharpton, Addis Daniel and others, Farrakhan marked the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March by holding a second gathering, the Millions More Movement, October 14–17 in Washington D.C.

Recent activity

2005, a Black Entertainment Television (BET) poll voted Farrakhan the 'Person of the Year'.

2006, an AP-AOL "Black Voices" poll voted Farrakhan the fifth-most important black leader, with 4 percent of the vote.

Hurricane Katrina

In comments in 2005, Farrakhan stated that there was a hole under one of the key levees that failed in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. He implied that the levee's destruction was a deliberate attempt to wipe out the population of the largely Black sections within the city. Farrakhan later said that New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin told him of the crater during a meeting in Dallas, Texas. Farrakhan further claimed that the fact the levee broke the day after Hurricane Katrina is proof that the destruction of the levee was not a natural occurrence. Farrakhan has raised additional questions and has called for federal investigations into the source of the levee break. He also asserted that the hurricane was "God's way of punishing America for its warmongering and racism".

Experts including the Independent Levee Investigation Team (ILIT) from the University of California, Berkeley have countered his accusations. The report from the ILIT said "The findings of this panel are that the overtopping of the levees by flood waters, the often sub-standard materials used to shore up the levees, and the age of the levees contributed to these "scour holes" found at many of the sites of levee breaks after the hurricane."

Former support for Barack Obama

In 2008, Farrakhan publicly supported then-Senator Barack Obama who was campaigning at the time to become the president of the United States of America, at the same time criticizing the United States' problems.

The Obama campaign quickly responded to convey his distance from the minister. "Senator Obama has been clear in his objections to Farrakhan's past pronouncements and has not solicited the minister's support," said Obama spokesman Bill Burton. Obama "rejected and denounced" Farrakhan's support during an NBC presidential candidate debate.

Conservative internet sites such as World Net Daily reported that during his February 24, 2008, "Saviours Day" speech Farrakhan called Obama "the Messiah". Quoting in context, Farrakhan said, "Sen. Obama is not the Messiah for sure, but anytime, he gives you a sign of uniting races, ethnic groups, ideologies, religions and makes people feel a sense of oneness, that’s not necessarily Satan’s work, that is I believe the work of God."

Following the 2008 presidential election, Farrakhan explained, during a BET television interview, that he was "careful" to never endorse Obama during his campaign. "I talked about him — but, in very beautiful and glowing terms, stopping short of endorsing him. And unfortunately, or fortunately, however we look at it, the media said I 'endorsed' him, so he renounced my so-called endorsement and support. But that didn’t stop me from supporting him."

Farrakhan no longer supports Obama, whom he has since labeled the "first Jewish president" due to Obama's support for the 2011 military intervention in Libya, which Farrakhan strongly opposes due to his own support for Muammar al-Gaddafi. At a 31 March 2011 press conference held at the Mosque Maryam, Farrakhan warned that the United States could be "facing a major earthquake as part of God’s divine judgment against the country for her evil"

Health problems

Farrakhan announced that he was seriously ill in a September 11, 2006, letter to his staff, Nation of Islam members and supporters. The letter, published in ''The Final Call'' newspaper, said that doctors in Cuba had discovered a peptic ulcer. According to the letter subsequent infections caused Farrakhan to lose 35 pounds, and he urged the Nation of Islam leadership to carry on while he recovered.

Farrakhan was released from his five-week hospital stay on January 28, 2007, after major abdominal surgery. The operation was performed to correct damage caused by side effects of a radioactive "seed" implantation procedure that he received years earlier to successfully treat prostate cancer.

Following his hospital stay,Farrakhan released a "Message of Appreciation" to supporters and well wishers and weeks later delivered the keynote address at the Nation of Islam's annual convention in Detroit.

Criticism and controversy

Farrakhan has been the center of much controversy with critics saying that his views and comments are antisemitic, racist or homophobic. Farrakhan has categorically denied these charges and stated that much of America's perception of him has been shaped by media sound bites. This defense is echoed by religion scholar and anti-Israel activist Mattias Gardell who argues that, when considered in the context of Farrakhan's typically lengthy lectures, many of Farrakhan's out of context controversial comments take on a more nuanced or thoughtful meaning that cannot be conveyed in a sound bite.

Malcolm X's death

Many, including Malcolm X's family, have accused Louis Farrakhan of being involved in the plot to assassinate Malcolm X. For many years, Betty Shabazz, the wife of Malcolm X, harbored resentment toward the Nation of Islam—and Farrakhan in particular—for what she felt was their role in the assassination of her husband. In a heated 1993 speech, Farrakhan seemed to boast of the assassination:

We don't give a damn about no white man law if you attack what we love. And frankly, it ain't none of your business. What do you got to say about it? Did you teach Malcolm? Did you make Malcolm? Did you clean up Malcolm? Did you put Malcolm out before the world? Was Malcolm your traitor or ours? And if we dealt with him like a nation deals with a traitor, what the ''hell'' business is it of yours? You just shut your mouth, and stay out of it. Because in the future, we gonna become a nation. And a nation gotta be able to deal with traitors and cutthroats and turncoats. The white man deals with his. The Jews deal with theirs.

During a 1994 interview, Gabe Pressman asked Shabazz whether Farrakhan "had anything to do" with Malcolm X's death. She replied: "Of course, yes. Nobody kept it a secret. It was a badge of honor. Everybody talked about it, yes." In January 1995, Qubilah Shabazz, the daughter of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz, was charged with trying to hire an assassin to kill Farrakhan in retaliation for the murder of her father, whom she long believed was responsible for it.

In a ''60 Minutes'' interview that aired during May 2000, Farrakhan stated that some of the things he said may have led to the assassination of Malcolm X. "I may have been complicit in words that I spoke", he said. "I acknowledge that and regret that any word that I have said caused the loss of life of a human being." A few days later Farrakhan denied that he "ordered the assassination" of Malcolm X, although he again acknowledged that he "created the atmosphere that ultimately led to Malcolm X's assassination."

Antisemitism

Many of Farrakhan's comments have been deemed antisemitic by the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith.

Farrakhan, known for his frequent association and comparison of whites with devils, said in an ABC interview with Martin Bashir on March 9, 2007 that he would refrain from using such rhetoric. Despite this, Farrakhan used this association to great extent later that month in Mosque Maryam in Chicago, including in one fierce declaration where he stated: "Do you know some of these satanic Jews have taken over BET? They got BET. They got our hair product people. They got Motown. Everything that we built, THEY got it. But the mind of Satan now is running the record industry. Running the movie industry. Running television."

Jewish distributors

Farrakhan has alleged that Jewish distributors blocked a major urban economic renewal initiative in 1985 he had championed which was dubbed "P.O.W.E.R." for ''People Organized Working for Economic Rebirth''. The initiative called for a joint enterprise of businesses and organizations, owned or run by Black people, to produce and distribute a line of cosmetics and toiletries sold under the Clean & Fresh (now defunct) label. Major haircare companies, including Johnson Products Co., backed out of the initiative fearing it could lead to accusations of anti-Semitism. Johnson Products owner George E. Johnson, Sr. maintained that his company's distributors told him that any dealings with Farrakhan's P.O.W.E.R. project would lead to having his own products boycotted. "We knew we could not offend our distribution channels," a Johnson spokesman Dorothy McConner said. "When I saw that," Farrakhan said, "I recognized that the Blackman will never be free until we address the relationship between Blacks and Jews."

"Gutter religion"

In 1984, after returning from a visit to Libya Farrakhan delivered a sermon that was recorded by a ''Chicago Sun Times'' reporter. A transcript from part of the sermon was published in the ''New York Times'':

Farrakhan has repeatedly denied referring to Judaism as a "gutter religion" explaining that he was instead referring to the Israeli Government's use of Judaism as a political tool. In a June 18, 1997, letter to a former ''Wall Street Journal'' editor Jude Wanniski he stated:

"Black Hitler" characterization

During Rev. Jesse Jackson's 1984 presidential campaign, Jackson used the word ''hymie'', a pejorative term for Jews, in referring to New York City as "Hymietown" in a discussion with a Black reporter. Though Jackson thought he was speaking off the record, the reporter printed the quote. Rev. Jackson was widely criticized for the slur and received numerous death threats, leading Farrakhan to announce, "If you [Jewish leaders] harm this brother, I warn you in the name of Allah, it'll be the last one you ever harm."

In response to Farrakhan's speech, Nathan Pearlmutter, then Chair of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) of B'nai B'rith, referred to Farrakhan as the new "Black Hitler" and ''Village Voice'' journalist Nat Hentoff also characterized the NOI leader as a "Black Hitler" while a guest on a New York radio talk-show.

In response, Farrakhan announced during a March 11, 1984, speech broadcast on a Chicago radio station:

H1N1 Vaccine Conspiracy Theory

On October 21, 2009, Farrakhan told an audience in Memphis that he believes the H1N1 flu vaccine was developed to depopulate the earth. During a gathering to observe the Nation of Islam's Holy Day of Atonement, which also marked the 14th anniversary of the Million Man March in Washington, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported Farrakhan as saying:

Praise of President Robert Mugabe

In 2002, Louis Farrakhan went to Zimbabwe in support of President Robert Mugabe's intentions to enforce proposed redistribution of white-owned land and property. Farrakhan said he was in "full support" of Mugabe's policies "as it was aimed at correcting a historical injustice".

Accepted Support from Moammar Gadhafi

According to the Associated Press, Farrakhan called the embattled Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi a friend and Muslim brother who's lent the Nation of Islam movement $8 million over the years. Farrakhan explained, "I love Moammar Gadhafi, and I love our president. It grieves me to see my brother president set a policy that would remove this man not only from power, but from the earth." According to the Associated Press, Farrakhan portrayed Gadhafi as a fellow revolutionary and longtime friend to the Nation of Islam, which reportedly used $3 million it borrowed from Libya in the 1970s to acquire the building and land which formerly housed the St. Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church on Chicago's South Side. Years later, a $5 million loan was used to pay back taxes and costs for the home of the movement's former leader Elijah Muhammad. Despite Gadhafi's connection to the Lockerbie Bombing, Farrakhan said, "I don't care what Gadhafi has done wrong, he is not the 'mad dog of the Middle East.'"

Belief in UFOs

In an interview Farrakhan claimed the existence of a ship he calls The Wheel which houses weapons capable of defeating all weapons on earth. He claims that many call UFOs The Wheel, or what Elijah Muhammad called "The Mother Plane." Farrakhan also alleges government conspiracy in covering up reports on these sightings. In an interview with Jamie Maussan dated 4/11/2011, he claimed that The Wheel would make itself clear to the population of earth in a matter of "days".

Farrakhan and classical music

When Farrakhan first joined the NOI he was asked by Elijah Muhammad to put aside his musical career as a violinist. After 42 years, Farrakhan decided to take up the violin once more primarily due to the urging of prominent classical musician Sylvia Olden Lee.

On April 17, 1993, Farrakhan made his return concert debut with performances of the ''Violin Concerto in E Minor'' by Felix Mendelssohn. Farrakhan intimated that his performance of a concerto by a Jewish composer was, in part, an effort to heal a rift between him and the Jewish community. ''The New York Times'' music critic Bernard Holland reported that Farrakhan's performance was somewhat flawed due to years of neglect "nonetheless Mr. Farrakhan's sound is that of the authentic player. It is wide, deep and full of the energy that makes the violin gleam." Farrakhan has gone on to perform the Violin Concerto of Ludwig van Beethoven and has announced plans to perform those of Tchaikovsky and Brahms.

In popular culture

In the novel ''Push'', Farrakhan is mentioned several times as "the original black man".

Nas dedicated a song to Louis Farrakhan on his ''Untitled'' album called "Louis Farrakhan".

On "Bring The Noise" by Public Enemy, Chuck D states "Farrakhan's a prophet and I think you oughta listen to what he can say to you."

In his HBO special ''You Are All Diseased'', George Carlin cited Farrakhan as an example of someone who is "openly black".

The Notorious B.I.G. mentions Farrakhan in his song titled "The What" on his debut album ''Ready to Die'.

Canibus mentions Farrakhan in his song "Second Round K.O." on his debut album ''Can-I-Bus''.

In the song "Funkahdafi" by the Belgian EBM/Industrial band Front 242 parts of a speech by Louis Farrakhan (praising Muammar al-Gaddafi) can be heard in sampled form

In the Movie Don't Be a Menace there is a character named Farraconvict (a parody of Farrakhan) who says and preaches outrageous things to the main character while they are both in jail.

Jay Electronica dedicates his album to the honourable Louis Farrakhan in his song 'Suckas'

In the TV series, In Living Color, during a Star Trek parody, the character of Louis Farrakhan appears and talks the crew into mutinying against the white captain.

In the film ''Chasing Amy'', by Kevin Smith, one of the leading characters, Alyssa, asks a character (a gay black comic book artist with a fake-Black Nationalist persona to hide his sexuality) "Why is it that you sound like Louis Farrakhan when you're on the panel, and the King of Pop (Michael Jackson) when you're not?"

See also

African-American – Jewish relations

Black Liberation Theology

Black separatism

The Hate That Hate Produced

The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews

Millions More Movement

Warith Deen Mohammed

Mustapha Farrakhan

Mustapha Farrakhan Jr.

References

Further reading

External links

Nation of Islam's Official Louis Farrakhan Bio Sketch

Final Call Newspaper, founded by Louis Farrakhan

Louis Farrakhan's weekly news column

Farrakhan Speaks Podcast

Malcolm X Reloaded Podcast

Nation of Islam's Women Committed to the Truth -Not a pro Louis Farrakhan site. They are critical of his leadership of the NOI

Minister Farrakhan's Letter to President George W. Bush

Tim Russert interview

Islam or Farrakhanism: What Does the Nation of Islam Believe?

"Teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad" for the WGBH series, Say Brother

Farrakhan in His Own Words A selection of quotes from Farrakhan's speeches prepared by the Anti-Defamation League

2006 Friends of Mankind Award

My walk with Farrakhan testimony

1999 Village Voice article outlining NOI leadership

Farrakhan videos

Video collection on Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam (NOI), and the conflict between Blacks and Jews

March, 2006 Havana, Cuba Press Conference

May, 2004 Washington, D.C. Press Conference on U.S. Government's ''War on Terrorism''

April, 2002 Press Conference on Arab, Muslim/Israeli Conflict

Let Us Make Man Part I – africanconnections.com – Technical Note: playback requires Flash 10 Player

Let Us Make Man Part II – africanconnections.com – Technical Note: playback requires Flash 10 Player

BBC Video

FOX News Interview on Millions More Movement

Farrakhan Webcast: The Murder of Malcolm X

Mike Wallace interview on CBS with Farrakhan and Atallah Shabazz

Birth of a nation

Category:1933 births Category:Living people Category:African American religious leaders Category:African Americans' rights activists Category:American classical violinists Category:American people of Saint Kitts and Nevis descent Category:American religious leaders of Jamaican descent Category:American Muslims Category:Calypsonians Category:Members of the Nation of Islam Category:People from Boston, Massachusetts Category:Anti-Zionism in the United States Category:Louis Farrakhan family

de:Louis Farrakhan fr:Louis Farrakhan it:Louis Farrakhan he:לואיס פרחאן nl:Louis Farrakhan no:Louis Farrakhan pl:Louis Farrakhan pt:Louis Farrakhan ru:Фаррахан, Луис simple:Louis Farrakhan fi:Louis Farrakhan sv:Louis Farrakhan yo:Louis Farrakhan