Johannes Brahms (May 17, 1833 - April 3, 1897) was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene. In his lifetime, Brahms's popularity and influence were considerable. Brahms composed for piano, chamber ensembles, symphony orchestra, and for voice and chorus. A virtuoso pianist, he premiered many of his own works. Brahms is often considered both a traditionalist and an innovator. 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. While completing the Op. 121 songs, Brahms developed cancer (sources differ on whether this was of the liver or pancreas). He died in 1897 at the age of 63. No photographer credited, undated.