Why do people say Brahms first symphony is as if it were Beethoven’s tenth symphony?

That’s a beautiful and very deep question — one that touches on music history, psychology, and even a little drama.

Let’s go through it carefully:

Context:

  • Beethoven wrote 9 symphonies (his Ninth, the “Ode to Joy,” was seen as the peak of symphonic music).
  • After Beethoven’s death, Beethoven became a giant — like a god in the eyes of later composers.
  • Brahms (born a few decades after Beethoven) worshiped Beethoven’s music and felt crushing pressure to live up to him, especially in the world of symphonies.

Brahms and his struggle:

  • Brahms worked on his First Symphony for about 20 years!
  • He kept abandoning drafts because he didn’t think anything was good enough compared to Beethoven.

  • He once said (to a friend), something like:

    “You have no idea how it feels to hear behind you the footsteps of a giant like Beethoven.”

When Brahms finally finished his First Symphony (Op. 68, premiered 1876):

  • Listeners immediately noticed how grand, serious, structured, and heroic it sounded — very much like Beethoven’s style.
  • The first movement is dark, heavy, full of struggling energy — much like Beethoven’s Fifth.
  • The final movement has a majestic, hymn-like theme that strongly echoes Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (“Ode to Joy” feel).

It wasn’t a copy — Brahms was too original for that — but the spirit of Beethoven was deeply alive in the music.

So when people say:

“Brahms’s First Symphony is like Beethoven’s Tenth,”

they mean:

  • Brahms picked up where Beethoven left off,
  • Brahms “answered” the gigantic challenge Beethoven posed,
  • Brahms managed to create a symphony that felt worthy of standing next to Beethoven’s.

It’s a huge compliment — and it shows how much emotional, historical, and musical weight Brahms carried into that work.

Short version:

  • Beethoven’s 9 symphonies felt like a complete, unmatchable mountain.
  • Brahms’s First Symphony was seen as the first real “next step” worthy of Beethoven’s legacy.
  • It’s grand, heroic, emotional — a “spiritual continuation” of Beethoven’s world.

If you want, I can also show you a quick musical example: how Brahms’s final movement theme sounds close to Beethoven’s Ode to Joy! (It’s really fun to hear it with your own ears — you’d notice it instantly!) Want me to show you?