Piece #18 - Symphony No. 4, mvt. 4 - Johanees Brahms

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZGWB93-mmI

 

I was going to begin this blog by saying, "even as a choral guy this may be my favorite piece of all time." Then I thought about it, and what does that really mean. I guess I am deemed a "choral conductor" in the American system of higher education we have to specialize which type of conductor we are. I guess aside from being a relatively decent person, I would like to be thought of as a musician, not the "choral guy" that I almost called myself. Sorry, totally random thought for the day.

 

Factoids:

• Brahms was a masterful student of music, and was especially interested in musical forms of the past.
• This is evident in this piece as it is a modified passacaglia.
• A passacaglia is a piece based on a fixed, repeated bass line.
• This particular bass line is taken from a Bach's Cantata 150, and is the backbone of the entire movement.
• It's important to think about this gesture within the context of the music of the 19th century.
• At this point the likes of Richard Wagner are expanding tonality to the limits, using excessive chromaticism and tonicization.
• Brahms on the other hand, remained conservative, mastering forms, like the passacaglia and fugue that had been used by the great composers of previous generations.

• You can find no better example of Brahms masterful use of pre-existing musical ideas than mvt. 4 of this, his final symphony.
• At this point the passacaglia had fallen out of fashion many years ago.
• The general interest was on the music of the future, not the music of the past a compositional style in which Brahms continued to thrive and expand.

 

• The bass line is best heard in the opening passage, when the chords are presented in such a raw fashion.
• It is important to note that Brahms foreshadows the opening chord of this movement by placing it as the penultimate chord of the first movement.

 

Enjoy and stay warm East Coasters - yes, I guess that includes Pittsburgh as well...