A German composer of major works in all forms except opera, including symphonies, lieder, and solo piano music. Playing in rough taverns down by the docks as a teenager in order to supplement his family's humble income, Brahms persevered to become a renowned conductor of Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, and Schumann and a great composer, faithful to the traditional architecture and logic of classical forms but a romantic in love with German folksong. He eschewed chromaticism and told a personal and non-programmatic story in every composition.