1st symphony (Brahms)

Photo by Johannes Brahms, ca.1875

The Symphony No. 1 in C minor op.68 by Johannes Brahms was premiered in November 1876. The first sketches date from 1862, and the period of their creation extends over 14 years, including interruptions. Brahms made the last changes to the work in 1877.

History of origin

Robert Schumann compared Brahms' early piano sonatas with “veiled symphonies” in his essay “Neue Bahnen” from October 1853 and praised his future career as a symphonic composer. Probably the expectations already shown here, which were brought to his first symphony by others, but also by the self-critical Brahms (especially in comparison to the symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven , see below), meant that Brahms did not complete his first symphony until 1876.

In 1854 Brahms had the plan to convert the first movement of a sonata for two pianos into an orchestral movement. From this, however, no symphony emerged until 1856, but the first movement of his piano concerto op.15.
1858 Brahms wanted a three-movement Serenade for octet expand duty system to the symphony, the work then but one worked in the five-movement Serenade no. For large orchestra, Op. 11 to, because if someone under'll take it, "to write symphonies by Beethoven, so would they look completely different ”(letter to the violinist Carl Bargheer ).
In 1862 Brahms showed his friends a symphony movement which is an early version of the later first movement of the first symphony (without its introduction). Clara Schumann wrote to the violinist Joseph Joachim on July 1, 1862 :

“The other day Johannes sent me - you think what a surprise - a 1st symphony movement with the following bold beginning. This is a bit strong now, but I got used to it very quickly. The sentence is full of wonderful beauties, with a mastery of the motifs that it is becoming more and more characteristic of. Everything is so interwoven in an interesting way, yet as lively as a first effusion; you really enjoy it to the fullest without being reminded of your work. The transition from the second part back to the first has again been wonderfully successful. "

Why Brahms did not continue the symphony in 1862 is unknown. Perhaps he had not yet found a concept for the overall form. When his friends asked urgent questions about the symphony, Brahms replied evasively or said how difficult it was to compose symphonies after Beethoven. Until 1876 there was no clear document as to whether Brahms pushed his work forward, and it is possible that he had been working more on the work since 1874. It is unclear whether the birthday greeting written to Clara Schumann in 1868, which contains the alphorn theme from the last movement, was already written with the symphony in mind. On June 12, 1876 Brahms went to Sassnitz on Rügen and worked on the symphony. On October 5, 1876, he wrote to the publisher Fritz Simrock : “A beautiful symphony stuck at the Wissower Klinken”. In September he finished the composition work (apart from the little things, see below) in Lichtenthal near Baden-Baden. Brahms first showed the symphony to Clara Schumann, who reports about it in her diary. Then he first completed the two outer movements, and only on October 10, 1876 did he perform the entire symphony on the piano for her. Clara Schumann reports about this in her diary, although she apparently no longer remembered the symphony movement from 1862 and the birthday greeting from 1868:

“I cannot hide the fact that I was sad and depressed, because it does not want to appear to me to be synonymous with other of his things […]. I lack the melodic swing, however ingenious the work is. I struggled a lot whether I should tell him that, but I have to first hear it completely from the orchestra [...]. "

(For further reception see below.)

First performance, going to press

Plaque at the site of the premiere in Karlsruhe

After many years of composing, preparations for the premiere were vigorously pursued. It was set for November 4, 1876 in Karlsruhe under the direction of Felix Otto Dessoff , the follow-up performance, which Brahms himself directed, for November 7, 1876 in Mannheim. Until then, the voice material had to be reproduced. In October 1876 Brahms made a few changes. Further performances followed on November 15, 1876 in Munich, on December 17, 1876 in Vienna, on January 18, 1877 in Leipzig and on January 23, 1877 in Breslau.

Brahms gave himself plenty of time to go to press. His publisher Simrock planned a quick publication in February 1877. Even after the performance in Breslau, however, it was not yet possible to start printing, as Brahms had given his manuscript to the violinist Joseph Joachim for performances in England. When he received it back in May 1877, he reworked the second movement, in particular through cuts, and sent this final version to Simrock. The first edition was published in October 1877 (score, parts and arrangement for piano four hands).

reception

Clara Schumann wrote in her diary that she lacks the “melodic swing” in the work (see above). Brahms said in a letter to Otto Dessoff that the 1st symphony “is not recommended for being kind”. Many music critics also attested the work a "sparse seriousness." Giselher Schubert sums up the contemporary reception:

“To contemporaries, the symphony appears to be less novel or progressive in the immediate successor to Beethoven; rather, one feels with this work a more traditional content spiritually deepened. One unanimously observes a serious, almost tragic mood, an unusually artful processing of topics, admittedly poor in the first sentences. This immediately leads to the reproach of a lack of sensual stimulus or a warming imagination; There is a sobriety, almost an asceticism, and the accumulation of compositional difficulties makes it impossible to follow the symphony straight away: it is more respected and respected than loved. "

There are three basic positions in reception:

In the historical-philosophical interpretations, the rank and meaning of music are less derived from its artistic character, rather its content is interpreted by determining its historical position. This includes the discussion of the extent to which Brahms succeeded Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the symphony. After the party of the “ New Germans ” around Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner , the Wagnerian music drama and Liszt's symphonic poems are legitimate successors to Beethoven's 9th symphony, Brahms merely succeeded Beethoven epigonally with his first symphony. The Friends of Brahms, on the other hand, expressed their praise; the conductor Hans von Bülow described the work as “10. Symphony ”(but he did not mean a continuation of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, he saw Brahms's work placed between Beethoven's second and third symphonies).
In the music-sociological interpretations, conclusions are drawn from the brooding and reserved character and from the unusually artistic work on the music-sociological content, on the position of this symphony in relation to society. Since Beethoven, for example, the symphony has been associated with the idea that it can create an ideal community of people and that through it the ideal community also finds its expression. Based on this point of view, Brahms was initially criticized for attempting to monumentalize chamber music with his 1st symphony, but that the symphonic style could not emerge from the intensification of the chamber music style. In the 20th century a reinterpretation took place: What was previously criticized as unsinfonic is interpreted as a sign of modernity, which in the inability to represent a societal general receives and preserves its social truth.
In programmatic attempts at interpretation, the inner course of development is interpreted programmatically from the tragic mood of the first movement to the clarification and breakthrough in the final movement. Some reviewers took the view that Brahms was following a discreet program in the symphony. Several receptions contain autobiographical interpretations, according to which Brahms z. B. describe his relationship with Clara Schumann.

References to Ludwig van Beethoven

The "rhythmic figure" in the first movements of Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven) and No. 1 (Brahms, bars 157 to 161)

Comparison of the main themes from the final movements of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and Brahms Symphony No. 1 (from measure 62)

Various similarities between the 1st symphony by Brahms and the symphonies by Beethoven are often mentioned:

(extensive) agreement in the instrumentation;
Agreement in the basic key of Beethoven's 5th Symphony , also for the 3rd piano concerto (there second movement also in E major) and the triple concerto (there second movement in A flat major);
In the first movement, a rhythmic figure, in which three diatonic short note values flow into a longer one, plays an essential role (“Motif B”, see below), as does the central motif from Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, Movement 1;
dramaturgical structure “per aspera ad astra” (“through night to light”) as in Beethoven's Symphony No. 5;
Inclusion of an (Alp) horn tune as well as a chorale similar to Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 ;
Similarity from the main theme of the final movement to the main theme of the final movement from Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 . Brahms is said to have replied to the remark that the two topics were strangely similar: "Yes, and what is even stranger is that every donkey hears that immediately."

To the music

Orchestra instrumentation: two flutes , two oboes , two clarinets , two bassoons , contrabassoon , four horns , two trumpets , three trombones (only in the last movement), timpani , 1st violin , 2nd violin, viola , violoncello , double bass .

Performance time: approx. 40 to 45 minutes. For the Mannheim performance in November 1876 (see above) there is information about the duration of the movements: 14 minutes - 9 minutes (for the first version of the second movement) - 4 minutes - 16 minutes.

The keys of the movements are related to each other via a major third : E major stands above a major third, A major a major third below C major or C minor.

The following description is to be understood as a suggestion. Depending on the point of view, other designations, delimitations and interpretations are also possible.

First movement: Un poco sostenuto - Allegro - Meno allegro

Un poco sostenuto: C minor, 6/8 time (bars 1–37)

First movement, Czech National Symphony Orchestra (Musopen)

The symphony begins in the dramatic forte of the entire orchestra with a chromatic countermovement between the winds and strings under the throbbing organ point of the timpani. These "dissonant-rich harmonic passages of the main voices leading against each other" contain two motifs that are important for the further structure of the movement: Motif A is characterized by its chromatic line (bars 1 to 4), Motif B by its three short ascending notes that merge into one longer note value (measure 2 in sixteenth notes, measure 4 in eighths). The piano passage from bar 9 with the question-and-answer phrase alternating between pizzicato (falling seventh and sixth) and legato (leading figure) appears in the Allegro, as does the ascending triad turn (motif C) from bar 21, with Brahms pianissimo begins and increases to fortissimo. The breakout leads to the repetition of the beginning of the sentence from the dominant G. In the piano passage that follows, with which the introduction ends, the oboe, flute and cello play a sweeping, melancholy melody one after the other.

Allegro: C minor, 6/8 time (bars 38–511)

"Motto" with motifs A and B, bars 38–42

“Main theme”, bars 42–46

The Allegro begins with the theme made up of motifs A and B (“motto theme”, “motto” “guiding theme”), goes harmoniously from the double dominant D major over the dominant G to the tonic C), followed immediately in bar 42 from the "main topic". In its first part this consists of the ascending triad of motif C and a falling chord figure in the range of the seventh (motif D, both with dotted rhythm) and in its second part of motif C and motif A. Motifs A and B appear as opposing voices on. Due to the complicated structure of the sentence, the “branched lines” of which one would have to hear “with a magnifying glass, as it were”, the listener can hardly or not at all determine what the main subject of the sentence is. The passage from bar 51 with the falling seventh / sixth and the lead is derived from bar 9 of the introduction. From bar 70, a “developed, transition-like repetition of the main theme complex” follows, in which the theme elements are varied with repeated motifs and changed instrumentation.

Pages with theme, bars 130–134

The “transition” to the subordinate movement from bar 89 is initially marked by accents, then goes with motif D into the piano, where the action in staccato, pizzicato and legato calms down. Falling fifths in the horn and clarinet herald the establishment of the parallel tonic in E flat major, in which instead of a contrasting secondary theme, the main theme appears as a variant in a song-like, idyllic mood (from bar 121). Only from bar 130 do the oboes play a new, short theme, which is characterized by its fourths (motif E) (the chromatically falling line of the theme is reminiscent of motif A). From bar 138 onwards, the winds throw the final turn of the theme (fourth upwards), the music then gradually calms down again and seems to ebb away in the triple piano.

The “final group” (“final movement”, “epilogue”) from bar 157 begins in E flat minor. It initially contains a characteristic motif of three descending staccato notes with an upward interval jump (motif F), which can be derived from motifs B and A. Brahms uses motifs C and D in their inversion as the opposing voice. In addition to motif F, the end of the exposition in fortissimo is characterized by a variant of the final turn of the second theme in the horns. The exposure is repeated.

The development from bar 190 begins, starting from B major, with the main theme narrowed and then gradually ebbs away with motifs from the theme. In measure 215 the tonic in C minor is reached again. The Neapolitan sixth chord (bar 221) then leads over B flat minor (bar 225) to G flat major (bar 232), where the strings play a chorale-like melodic turn. This “chorale” is then alternated with motif F. From bar 274, chromatic courses follow again, and the music calms down again. In measure 293, starting from B minor, there follows another wave of increase, in the course of which motif F (initially in clarinet / oboe) is “reduced” to motif B (especially from measure 321). From bar 335 onwards, motif A will gradually be added.

Depending on your point of view, the recapitulation can be seen either in bar 339 when the full motto is reached or in bar 343 with motif C when the tonic in C minor is reached. In this way Brahms disguised the entry into the reprise. In contrast to the exposition, in the recapitulation the passage corresponding to bars 70 to 98 is omitted. After the side movement (bar 408), the extended final group follows from bar 430 (now in C minor), which ends abruptly at its climax in bar 474. With elements from motif A, dynamics and tempo then decrease again from B flat minor until C major is reached in bar 490. From bar 495, Brahms added a meno allegro (meno = Italian: “less”) as the coda , which takes up motif A again under the throbbing organ point at the beginning of the movement and ends the movement with motif C, which has now been lightened after C major.

Second movement: Andante sostenuto

E major, 3/4 time, 128 bars

Second movement, Czech National Symphony Orchestra (Musopen)

The sentence is structured in the pattern of the three-part song form (AB-A '), with the A part again being in three parts.

A section (bars 1–27)

Main theme, bars 1–4

A part (bars 1–16): The main theme with dotted rhythm is presented by strings and bassoon. It is characterized by short building blocks, which are interrupted by pauses and sometimes shifted against each other in meter. There is hardly any musical flow (in contrast to the beginning of the third movement). The chromaticism, which also characterizes parts of the rest of the movement, is reminiscent of the "motto" from the first movement.

Oboe melody, bars 17-23

b-part (bars 17-23): In the b-part, the solo oboe plays a sweeping, “poetic” melody that is reminiscent of the a-part due to its shape and dotted rhythm.
a'-part (bars 22-27): The first part closes with the abbreviated revision of the a-part, where Brahms designed the connection to the preceding b-part as an overlap (in bar 22 the theme from the beginning of the sentence begins in the strings while the oboe melody is still playing). The first part closes in bar 27 in E major.

B part (bars 27-66)

1st violin with dotted rhythm and chromatics, bars 27–31

In the contrasting middle section with minor opacities, the first violin takes over the voice guidance, the other strings accompany in dotted rhythm. This can be interpreted (at least in bars 39 and 47) as an allusion to the theme of the a-part.

Oboe melody, bars 38–43

The oboe melody beginning in bar 38 (replaced by the clarinet from bar 42) in steady motion points to the main theme of the third movement. After the eruption with an increase up to the forte from bar 53, the action calms down again, and the transition to the next part takes place in pianissimo.

A 'part (bars 67–128)

a '' part (bars 67–90): extended and varied repetition of the a part.
b'-part (bars 90–96): variant of the b-part with voice leading in a solo trio of oboe, horn and violin.
a '' 'part (bars 95–100): Shortened variant of the a part with an overlap to the preceding b' part in bars 95/96.
b '' part (bars 101-104): theme of the oboe melody from the b part in the horn, accompaniment changed (solo violin in figurations).
a '' '' part (bars 105–128): extended, varied repetition of the a part, with the beginning of the B part also being faded in in bars 114 and 120. (The section from bar 101 is sometimes considered a coda.)

The well-composed “cross-fades” between the sections in the A-section are noticeable, so that clear shaped sections are avoided. During the first performances, the movement had a different shape, which was reconstructed as a five-part rondo form with coda. Brahms rejected this form in May 1877 and reworked the Andante into the present form.

Third movement: Un poco Allegretto e grazioso

A flat major, 2/4 time, 164 bars

Third movement, Czech National Symphony Orchestra (Musopen)

Like the Andante sostenuto, this movement is also structured in the pattern of the three-part song form (AB-A '), with the A part also showing a three-part structure. In contrast to the Andante, the Allegretto is characterized by its flowing, continuous eighth note movement, especially at the beginning, and the individual sections of the sentence are clearly separated from each other.

In the already finished autograph, Brahms added bars 125 to 143 later, possibly in response to a letter from Clara Schumann, where she had said: "In the third movement, the ending was always not entirely satisfactory, even so short."

A section (bars 1–71)

Main theme in the clarinet, bars 1–10

A part (bars 1–45): The main theme presented by the clarinet in a continuous, flowing eighth note movement is ten measures, consisting of two five-measure halves. The second half represents the reversal of the first. The theme is derived from the oboe melody of the second movement (there from bar 38). From this theme, Brahms developed essential motif elements for the rest of the sentence. From bar 11 a motif appears in the woodwinds in dotted rhythm, initially as a characteristic two-bar falling unit, then varied as a one-bar unit. From bar 19, Brahms repeats the previous events as a somewhat extended variant (e.g. main theme with voice leading in the 1st violin).

Chromatic motif, bars 45–49 and varied motif from the main theme, bars 50–53

b-part (bars 45–61): the b-part contrasts with the change of voice leading to the clarinet, which plays a chromatic motif (derived from the main theme), which is shortly afterwards also adopted by the flutes and oboes. Another contrast is created by the changed accompaniment of the strings and the increase up to the forte in bar 50 with a rhythmically varied motif from the main theme.
a 'part (bars 62-71): The main theme is taken up again as a shortened variant (only the first half).

B part (bars 71–114, B major)

Subject of the B part

Brahms switches to 6/8 time and creates a seamless transition from A flat major to B major by enharmonically reinterpreting the E flat as the dominant from A flat major to the D flat third of B major . The theme that characterizes this part consists of the alternation of tone repetition of the upper voices with an answer from the lower voices and a swaying third movement of the woodwinds. In the repeated section from bars 87 to 108, the events escalate to the forte, with the elements of the theme being processed. After that, the action calms down, and Brahms switches back to A flat major.

A 'part (bars 115–154)

The A'-part consists of the extended a-part, the b-part is missing. The main theme is initially played by the clarinet again, but changes to the 1st violin in the second half. The rhythm is very similar to the main theme of the fourth movement in measure 62. After the passage with the motif in dotted rhythm, elements of the main theme and the dotted rhythm follow again from measure 140. The action slows down increasingly.

Coda (Bb ', bars 154–164, più tranquillo )

The movement ends with the motifs from the B part (triplet chains of thirds).

Fourth movement: Adagio - Più Andante - Allegro non troppo, ma con brio - Più Allegro

Fourth movement, Czech National Symphony Orchestra (Musopen)

The form of the sentence is unique within symphonic literature and also within Brahms' work.

Introduction (bars 1–61)

1st section - Adagio: C minor, 4/4 time (bars 1–29)

The introduction is linked to that of the first movement in several aspects (e.g. key, expression, chromatics). The Adagio begins alternating between sluggish, chromatic legato figures and pizzicato passages of the strings. From bar 20, the action intensifies through faster movement (change from eighth notes to sixteenth notes in the wind instruments, plus rapid thirty-two position runs of the violins) and crescendo up to the forte. The solo drum roll in bars 28/29 leads over to the andante.

Several elements of the Adagio play a role in the further course of the movement: The falling fourth from bars 1 and 2 appears in the secondary theme from bar 118 in the bass (also as an ascending and descending sixteenth from bar 106), and the motif of the upper part from bars 2 and 3 corresponds to the head motif of the main theme from bar 62. The pizzicato passage from bar 6 resembles the string movement from bar 208, and the syncopation from bar 22 resembles the beginning of the final movement from bar 148.

2nd section - Più Andante: C major, 4/4 time (bars 30-61)

Alphorn theme, bars 30–38

Chorale, bars 47-51

The horn forte then sets in over piano tremolating strings with an alphorn theme that contrasts with the previous event (“Alphorn way”, “Alphorn call”, “Alphorn melody”) in C major, which is taken over by the flute from bar 38. Brahms had already sent this topic as a birthday greeting to Clara Schumann in 1868 with the underlaid words: “Up on the mountain, deep in the valley, I greet you a thousand times!” . The trombones, which appear in the symphony for the first time in bar 30, lead the part in the subsequent “imaginary chorale” (bars 47 to 50) alongside the bassoon and contrabassoon.

“From the succinctly formulated theme, from the sudden change in minor major, from the simple setting that only indicates the harmonic basis for the main part and from the instrumentation with the solo horn, the string tremoli and the trombones that are used here for the first time in the symphony a force that causes the turning point not only of this introduction, but of the entire symphony in one fell swoop. "

Flute and horns then alternate with the head offset from the main theme over the still sustained string tremolo, before the introduction ends piano on the dominant G.

Allegro non troppo, ma con brio: C major, 4/4 time (bars 62–390)

Main theme, bars 62–78

The main movement (bars 61 to 114) begins with the memorable, hymn-like main theme ("hymn"), which is initially only performed by strings and horns. There is a similarity with the well-known theme from the final movement of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, to which Brahms himself referred (see above under “References to Ludwig van Beethoven”). The opening theme from the first movement of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 3 has a similar structure. The theme is then repeated by the woodwinds. The fortissimo block from bars 94 to 114 contains the theme alternating with triplet movement, broken chords in countermovement with dotted rhythm and virtuoso runs (derived from the fourth movement at the beginning of the movement). After a brief appearance of the alphorn theme (bars 115 to 118), the side movement follows.

Side movement with theme in the 1st violin, bars 118–122

Side movement with a theme in the oboe, bars 132–135

The side movement (bars 118 to 148) is in the dominant G major. Above the fourth passage from the beginning of the movement, designed as an ostinato bass, the voice-leading 1st violin plays a chromatic and restrained theme that is related to the fourth passage. Another chromatic theme, also based on the fourth movement, follows in the oboe from bar 132. From bar 141 the theme is repeated in the strings, resolved into sixteenths.

The final movement (bars 148 to 183) is initially based on the motif of the syncope movement from bar 22, then alternates with march-like triplet chains and ends the exposition in bar 185 in E minor with energetic chords. With three transitional bars, Brahms leads back to the tonic in C major.

The subsequent “performance-like recapitulation” (bars 185 to 391) begins with the main movement (bars 185 to 284), this in turn with the main theme in C major (bars 186 to 200 corresponding to bars 62 to 76). Brahms then changes to E flat major with the woodwinds leading, but pushes pizzicato insertions between the top of the theme, similar to bar 6. The fortissimo block from bars 220 to 232 corresponds to that from bars 94 to 106. The head motif of the main theme evolves In bar 223 gradually - together with the virtuoso scale runs derived from the fourth movement - the head motif of the alphorn theme, the entry of which in bar 285 is partly interpreted as the beginning of the reprise (the previous section is then accordingly assessed as a development). The underlaid, throbbing drum beats are reminiscent of the first movement. The Alphorn theme is followed by the side movement (bars 301 to 332), followed by the final movement (bars 332 to 367), similar to the exposition.

In the transition bars 367 to 391, Brahms first changes pianissimo into mysterious and unharmonic keys, before the coda announces itself by increasing the tempo and volume.

Coda - Più Allegro: C major, 2/2 time (alla breve) (bars 391–457)

Brahms begins with “motif scraps” of the theme, a heightening that is geared towards the chorale (bars 407 to 416). In the exuberant coda, "which can only stammer motif fragments", the head motif from the final movement appears from measure 423, and the chromatic twist from measure 433 is reminiscent of measure 49 of the first movement.

Some authors interpret the Alphorn theme in the sense of a "sphere of ideal nature", while the chorale reminds one of religiosity.

“Horn call, chorale and hymn are images of nature and the people embedded in them and nevertheless independent. In contrast to the complex structures of the first movement, they stand as a liberation of the music itself; not in the Beethovenian sense of a philosophical overcoming, but as a compositional reality in itself. "

Christian Martin Schmidt points out that the main theme with its echoes of Beethoven is "substituted, repressed, declared invalid" twice: once at the beginning of the reprise by the alphorn theme, the second time in the coda by the chorale. Brahms leads the discussion with Beethoven by taking up the aesthetic premise set by Beethoven, “From night to light”. But the goal is different: the C major march from the final movement of the 5th symphony or in Schiller's ode “To Joy” from Beethoven's 9th symphony are “an expression of a self-conscious humanity on the way to a new state , both artistic realizations of the great ideas of the age shaped by the French Revolution. “Half a century later, when the bourgeoisie was excluded from political participation, this optimism gave way to self-restraint and melancholy. Brahms would correspond to this by using the alphorn theme as the "goal of the formal process" of the 1st symphony on the one hand as a symbol of nature and the chorale as a symbol of religion on the other.

Individual references, comments

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af Giselher Schubert : Symphony No. 1 in C minor op. 68. In Giselher Schubert , Constantin Floros, Christian Martin Schmidt (Eds.): Johannes Brahms. The symphonies. Introduction, commentary, analysis. Schott-Verlag, Mainz 1998, ISBN 3-7957-8711-4 , pp. 7-74.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s Christian Martin Schmidt: Brahms symphonies. A musical factory guide. Beck-Verlag, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-406-43304-9 , pp. 37-56.
↑ The note excerpt is similar to the Allegro from bar 39.
↑ Letters from and to Joseph Joachim , ed. by Johannes Joachim and Andreas Moser, Volume 2, Berlin 1912, p. 212 ( digitized version )
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j Wolfram Steinbeck: Romantic and national symphonies. In: Wolfram Steinbeck, Christoph von Blumröder: The symphony in the 19th and 20th centuries, part 1. In: Siegfried Mauser (Ed.): Handbook of musical genres. Volume 3.1. Laaber-Verlag, Laaber 2002, ISBN 3-89007-126-0 , pp. 181-199.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Rüdiger Heinze: “That is probably a bit strong.” 1st Symphony in C minor, Op. 68. In Renate Ulm (ed.): Johannes Brahms. The symphonic work. Origin, interpretation, effect. Bärenreiter-Verlag, Kassel 1996, ISBN 3-7618-1264-7 , pp. 206-216.
↑ ^a ^b Bernhard Rzehulka: Symphony No. 1 in C minor op. 68. In: Attila Csampai & Dietmar Holland (eds.): The concert guide. Orchestral music from 1700 to the present day. Rowohlt-Verlag, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1987, ISBN 3-8052-0450-7 , pp. 505-508.
^ ^A ^b ^c Klaus Schweizer, Arnold Werner-Jensen: Reclams concert guide orchestral music. 16th edition. Philipp Reclam jun. Stuttgart, ISBN 3-15-010434-3 , pp. 428-433.
^ Rudolf Kloiber: Handbook of the classical and romantic symphony. Breitkopf & Härtel - Verlag, Wiesbaden 1964, pp. 169–173.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Alfred Beaujean: Symphony No. 1 in C minor op. 68. In: Wulf Konold (Ed.): Lexikon Orchestermusik Romantik A - H. Schott-Verlag, Mainz 1989, p. 74– 78.
↑ Wolfram Steinbeck (2002, p. 190), on the other hand, calls the figure “an education that appears like a theme”.
↑ Wolfram Steinbeck (2002, p. 191) using a quote by Eduard Hanslick from his review of Brahms' second symphony.
↑ The repetition is not kept in some recordings.
↑ Rüdiger Heinze (pp. 211, 213) points out that Brahms attached importance to paying attention to the repetitive signs.
↑ The Brahms biographer Max Kalbeck has associated it with the hymn "Empower yourself, my weak spirit" by the Hamburg composer Johann Rist (1607–1667) (Giselher Schubert 1998, p. 59).
^ So in the analysis by Giselher Schubert. In some cases, other delimitations are also made, e.g. B. Christian Martin Schmidt describes bars 462 ff. As a coda.
↑ ^a ^b The structure of the sentence sections proposed here is based on the structure of Christian Martin Schmidt (1999).
↑ Wolfram Steinbeck (2002) interprets the chains of thirds from the end of movement 3 as a motivic relationship to the beginning of movement 4, as well as the basses from the last or first bar.
↑ Bernhard Rzehula (1987, p. 505) describes the theme as "the first free, melodically closed figure of the work."
↑ Other authors see the beginning of the implementation here, e.g. B. Beaujean (1989).

Web links, notes

Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 1 C minor. Edition Eulenburg No. 425. Ernst Eulenburg, London / Mainz 1979 (pocket score, with introductory text by Wilhelm Altmann)
1st Symphony (Brahms) : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project