4th Symphony (Brahms)

The Symphony no. 4 in E Minor op. 98 is the last Symphony written by Brahms . It was premiered on October 25, 1885 in Meiningen and is now one of the composer's most popular and most frequently performed orchestral works . The playing time is 39 to 47 minutes, depending on the interpretation.

Emergence

Exact dates are not possible because Brahms did not send any correspondence about the composition process and a date is also missing on the manuscript of the work; also no sketches of the symphony have survived. It can only be seen from Brahms' personal calendar that the first two movements of the symphony were composed in 1884 and the last two movements in 1885. During this second production phase, the finale was composed first.

After completing the symphony, Brahms asked his friend Elisabeth von Herzogenberg for her opinion on his symphony and wrote: “In general, unfortunately, the pieces of mine are more pleasant than I am, and you find less to correct them ?! But in this area the cherries don't get sweet and edible - so if you don't like the thing, don't be embarrassed. I'm not eager to write a bad number.. 4 "This comparison of the symphony with the climate in the Austrian Mürzzuschlag , the place of his summer vacation, can also be found in a letter to Hans von Bulow and leaves as a creation time for the symphony time suspect between June and mid-October 1884 and between late May and September 1885.

To the music

Orchestral line-up

Two flutes (2nd also piccolo), two oboes , two clarinets , two bassoons , one contrabassoon , four French horns , two trumpets , three trombones , triangle (only in the third movement), timpani , violin I, violin II, viola , Violoncello , double bass .

1st movement: Allegro non troppo (E minor)

The theme consists of a concise sequence of descending thirds (e.g. descending from the dominant to the minor third below) and ascending sixths (e.g. ascending from the minor tonic to the sixth above) and is used throughout the entire Symphony varied several times. Brahms had already used this technique, for which the music theorist Hugo Riemann introduced the term “curtain”, in his previous symphonies.

In the opinion of the musicologist Egon Voss , these further motifs consisting of thirds and sixths cannot be traced back to the main theme of the first movement as motifs that create a unity in the course of the symphony. According to Voss, this assumption is contradicted by the fact that the major and minor thirds are switched too arbitrarily and that a different key is used each time, and that the rhythm is too different in each case; the complete absence of the motif in the second movement is a further indication. In contrast, the musicologist Peter Petersen can show that the thirds in numerous variants (including lead variants) determine large stretches of the first, third and fourth movements. In the fourth movement, the beginning of the symphony is not quoted in m. 233, as previously assumed, but m. 240 from the preparation of the recapitulation in the first movement.

The first movement follows the conventional scheme of the sonata form . Modeled on the corresponding point in Beethoven's Symphony no. 9 , however, following, Brahms disguises the beginning of the implementation by the main theme in at the beginning of tonic starts sounding and awakens so the impression that it would merely repeating the exposure take place. The main theme and the secondary theme exchange roles, with the main theme becoming lyrical and the secondary theme being passionate. Sustained, figuratively moving chords let the flow of the music and finally that of the main theme slacken, so that the beginning of the recapitulation also occurs imperceptibly. In the coda the original flow is taken up again, and the movement develops a climax in which the main theme dominates.

2nd movement: Andante moderato (E major)

The main motif is first presented in unison in E- Phrygian and then gently modulated by the clarinets in E major. In the context of the Phrygian theme, Brahms lets contemporary and archaic harmonies meet.

The movement, described by Eduard Hanslick as the “ Elegie ”, develops quite lyrically in a dark wind sound , increases and ends in a cantilena of the violoncellos played around by the violins . After a short middle section, the previous development is repeated. In the epilogue, the Phrygian theme appears in a new harmonization, with the horns briefly sounding in C major under the e , before the movement of pp ends in E major.

3rd movement: Allegro giocoso - Poco meno presto - Tempo I (C major)

The third movement continues abruptly in a tumultuous C major mood, which in the context of the symphony may even appear sarcastic, which cannot be canceled out by the triangle either. In addition, Brahms has played the piccolo and triangle as well as C clarinets, which are atypical for him . As a short middle section, the slow change of a motif sounds like a romantic horn sound, but before this idyll can unfold, the cynical storm sweeps over it. Towards the end of the movement, the main theme of the final movement sounds before the noisy hustle and bustle comes to an end.

4th movement: Allegro energico e passionato - Più Allegro (E minor)

For the final movement, Brahms resorts to the strict form of a baroque passacaglia or chaconne with 30 variations plus coda. Today the 32 Variations by Ludwig van Beethoven (C minor, WoO 80) are used as models. They are also designed as a chaconne, and Brahms played them in public at least seven times as a young pianist.

The beginnings of Beethoven's Variations in C minor WoO 80 and of Brahms' set of variations from the 4th Symphony in E minor

The still widespread assumption that the final movement of the cantata BWV 150 by Johann Sebastian Bach could have been the model for Brahms' final movement is based on an anecdote by the Berlin choir conductor Siegfried Ochs , which must be considered a forgery.

A wide spectrum of musical expression is laid over the recurring Chaconne theme. Powerful in the first part, in the slow middle part melodic and chorale-like and at the end striving towards a mighty final climax, the movement comes to an abrupt end in an E minor that does not lighten a bit.

effect

At first glance, the uncompromising way in which the work is designed was astonishing. When Brahms and Ignaz Brüll played the symphony to friends on two pianos, Clara Schumann and Brahms' later biographer Max Kalbeck , among others, reacted with rejection. Eduard Hanslick is said to have exclaimed: "Throughout the sentence I had the feeling that I was being beaten by two terribly witty people." Elisabeth von Herzogenberg described the work as "a small world for the clever and knowledgeable, in which the people, that walks in the dark, could only have a weak part ”.

The first performance of the symphony took place on October 25, 1885 under Brahms' direction in Meiningen . In November he conducted the work on a tour with the Meininger Hofkapelle through West Germany and Holland . Hans von Bülow , who had rehearsed the symphony with the orchestra, respectfully, but probably also disappointed, let him go ahead.

Brahms' long-time friend Joseph Joachim, however, was able to tell the composer positive things about the dress rehearsal for the Berlin premiere:

“My esteemed master!
If I did not express my high level of enthusiasm for your latest symphony immediately after the first rehearsal, it is due to my excessive workload of the last few days (vide the accompanying program, during all hours after a long absence). We have now played through your wonderful creation today in the dress rehearsal and I can hope that it can be played with confidence and devotion in the evening. It sank deeper and deeper into my soul and the orchestra. The almost gripping trait of the whole, the density of the invention, the wonderfully intertwined growth of the motifs even more than the richness and the beauty of individual passages, have done me too much, so that I almost believe that the E minor is my favorite among them four symphonies. I also believe that if you have eyes to see and a musical disposition, you cannot easily go wrong as a conductor. "

- Joseph Joachim : Berlin, Monday noon, February 1, 1886

While the symphony on von Bülow's world tour was a success, after the first performance in Vienna by Hans Richter, the musicians sang the words “It fell / him like / the times” on the first bars of the work , consisting of descending thirds and ascending sixths /Not be /". When Brahms took part in a performance of the symphony as a listener in 1897, shortly before his death, he received stormy applause from the Viennese audience, which the work has remained to this day.

In 1971 Yes keyboarder Rick Wakeman adapted the third movement of the symphony for various keyboard instruments on the album Fragile .

literature

supporting documents

• Floros, Schmidt, Schubert: Johannes Brahms - The symphonies. Introduction and analysis. Schott, 1998, ISBN 3-7957-8711-4 .
• Christian Martin Schmidt : Brahms Symphonies. A musical factory guide. (Beck series; vol. 2202). CH Beck, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-406-43304-9 .
• Renate Ulm (Ed.): Johannes Brahms - The symphonic work. Origin, interpretation, effect. (Bärenreiter factory introductions). Bärenreiter, Kassel 2007, ISBN 3-7618-2111-5 .

further reading

• Eduard Hanslick : Fourth Symphony in E minor by Brahms. In: From a musician's diary. Berlin 1892, pp. 203-206.
• Walther Vetter: The first movement of Brahms' E minor symphony. A contribution to the knowledge of modern symphonic music. In: Die Musik , Volume 13, 1913/1914, pp. 3–15, 83–92, 131–145.
• Rudolf Klein : The constructive foundations of the Brahms symphonies . In: Österreichische Musikzeitschrift 23 , 1968, pp. 258–263.
• Rudolf Klein: The double framework technique in the Passacaglia of Brahms' IV Symphony . In: Österreichische Musikzeitschrift 27 , 1972, pp. 641–648.
• Christian Martin Schmidt: Johannes Brahms, Symphony No. 4 - Introduction and Analysis. Munich / Mainz 1980.
• David Osmond-Smith: The Retreat from Dynamism. A Study of Brahm's Fourth Symphony . In: Brahms, Documentary and Analytical Studies , ed. by Robert Pascall, Cambridge 1983, pp. 147-165.
• Louise Litterick: Brahms the Indecisive. Notes on the First Movement of the Fourth Symphony . In: Brahms 2. Biographical, Documentary and Analytical Studies , ed. By Michael Musgrave, Cambridge 1987, pp. 223-235.
• Horst Weber : Melancholia - attempt on Brahms' fourth. In: New Music and Tradition. Festschrift Rudolf Stephan for his 65th birthday. Laaber 1990, pp. 281-295.
• Michael Mäckelmann: Johannes Brahms - 4th Symphony. (= Masterpieces of Music , 56), Munich 1991.
• Giselher Schubert : Themes and Double Themes: The Problem of The Symphonic in Brahms. In: 19th Century Music 18. 1994.
• Walter Frisch : The Four Symphonies. Schirmer Books, New York 1996, ISBN 0-02-870765-6 .

Web links

• 4th Symphony : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
• Audio-video of the 4th movement / 1st movement Part ( Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle )
• Audio-video of the 1st movement / 1st movement Part ( Bavarian State Orchestra under Carlos Kleiber )

Individual evidence

1. ^ Renate Ulm: Johannes Brahms, Das symphonische Werk , Bärenreiter, p. 242
2. ↑ Peter Petersen : Intent or Coincidence? About chains of thirds and other interval chains in Brahms' 4th Symphony including a new interpretation of the quotation in the Variations finale. In: Journal of the Society for Music Theory 10, 2013, No. 1, Olms, Hildesheim 2016, pp. 35–46, Online: [1]
3. ↑ William Horne: Brahms's Variations on a Hungarian Song, op. 21, no. 2. "Then look at the Beethoven people and, if you want, mine" . In: Brahms Studies 3 (2001). University of Nebraska Press, pp. 112-121.
4. ↑ Peter Petersen : The Variations Finale from Brahms' E minor Symphony and the C minor Chaconne by Beethoven (WoO 80) . In: Archiv für Musikwissenschaft 70, 2013, pp. 105–118 ( online, PDF ).
5. ^ Renate and Kurt Hofmann, Brahms as interpreter . In: Brahms Handbuch, Stuttgart / Weimar 2009, pp. 77–86, here p. 82.
6. ^ Siegfried Ochs : Events, seen. Leipzig / Zurich 1922, p. 299f.
7. ↑ Peter Petersen : A case of falsified biography. On the longevity of an anecdote about Brahms' 4th Symphony . In: Neue Zeitschrift für Musik 180, 2019, no. 5, pp. 40–41. See also Ders., The Variations-Finale from Brahms' E minor Symphony and the C minor Chaconne by Beethoven (WoO 80) . In: Archiv für Musikwissenschaft 70, 2013, pp. 105–118, here pp. 106–109 ( online, PDF ).
8. ↑ Hans A. Neunzig: Brahms. The composer of the German bourgeoisie , Vienna / Munich 1976, p. 223. Karla Höcker: Johannes Brahms. Encounters with people , Berlin 1983, p. 199.