Johannes Brahms Popular Songs Ranking [2026]

Academic Festival Overture in C minor, Op. 80Johannes Brahms64rank/position

Johannes Brahms / Academic Festival Overture

Johannes Brahms’s Academic Festival Overture in C minor, Op.

80, is perfect for adding color to a memorable graduation ceremony! Its lively melodies, as if blessing a brilliant new beginning, make a striking impression.

Since its premiere in 1881, this work has been loved in concerts and many other settings; based on German student songs, it captivates listeners with Brahms’s hallmark mastery of form.

If you want to send graduates off with the power of a weighty classic, this is the ideal piece for your ceremony.

String Sextet No. 2Johannes Brahms65rank/position

Brahms: String Sextet No. 2 In G Major Op. 36 – International Chamber Music Festival Utrecht – HD

A chamber work composed by Brahms in 1865.

Scored for two violins, two violas, and two cellos, it consists of four movements.

In the closing section of the second subject in the first movement, it is said that the name of his former lover, Agathe von Siebold, is spelled out in musical notes.

It can be seen as a work in which Brahms’s inner feelings and personal experiences are reflected in the music.

Its hallmarks are its weighty, profound expression, and the variations of the third movement especially showcase Brahms’s prowess as a composer of variations.

In the end, he broke up with Siebold, and the way the piece ends in an exalted, seemingly liberated state gives the impression that he has cut off lingering attachment.

String Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 51 No. 1 – II. MovementJohannes Brahms66rank/position

Brahms: String Quartet No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 51 No. 1: II. Romanze. Poco adagio (Recorded 2007)

Released simultaneously with the String Quartet No.

2, both works are dedicated to his close friend Theodor Billroth, a renowned surgeon and amateur musician.

It is well known that Brahms was haunted by the towering specter of Beethoven when composing symphonies, taking more than twenty years to complete his Symphony No.

1.

He was equally cautious with his string quartets, spending at least eight years on the first two, which were unveiled together.

This is a deeply moving piece that combines gentle, sweet melodies with a touch of wistful longing.

expand_lessRaise the rankingexpand_morelower

HATSUMI

Report a problem

Waltz of LoveJohannes Brahms67rank/position

Brahms: Waltzes, Op. 39 (Emanuel Ax and Anna Polonsky)

Among Johannes Brahms’s Waltzes, Op.

39, composed for piano four hands, the most famous is No.

15, the “Waltz of Love.” It is a calm, mature, and beautiful piece.

There are no dramatic shifts along the way; it maintains a serene melody throughout.

It’s a perfect piece for spending a relaxed, gently passionate time with a loved one.

spirit of sleepJohannes Brahms68rank/position

Brahms Sleep Fairy (Baby Lullaby Music Box ver.)

Johannes Brahms’s “Sandman” can be considered an ideal piece for a lullaby that brings peace to the heart.

Its very gentle melody, with few notes that lull children to sleep, becomes even more captivating when paired with the clear tones of a music box.

The tender rhythm, like softly rocking a cradle, will warmly embrace not only the baby but also everyone listening in the family.

Because of its simplicity, the beauty of the sound comes through all the more, inviting you to savor it at a relaxed pace.

Holy LullabyJohannes Brahms69rank/position

Brahms: 'Sacred Lullaby' from Two Songs

This is the second of the Two Songs composed by Johannes Brahms to celebrate the birth of Joseph Joachim’s son, setting music to a text by Emanuel Geibel, which is a reworking of a poem by Lope de Vega.

It is scored for alto (a female voice type), viola (a lower-voiced member of the violin family), and piano.

Song of RainJohannes Brahms70rank/position

Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major, Op. 78 “Rain Song” — Szeryng/Rubinstein

This piece was composed in Pörtschach, a summer resort on the shores of Lake Wörthersee in southern Austria.

When you feel like escaping Japan’s sticky, oppressive heat, it’s the perfect time to listen to a work written in a summer retreat.

Try listening while imagining a cool lakeside scene.