Symphony No. 1 (Brahms)

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The Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68, is a symphony written by Johannes Brahms. Brahms spent at least fourteen years completing this work, whose sketches date from 1862. The premiere of this symphony, conducted by the composer's friend Felix Otto Dessoff, occurred on November 4, 1876 in Karlsruhe, Germany. A typical performance lasts approximately 45 to 50 minutes.

Contents

[edit] Instrumentation

The symphony is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani and strings.

[edit] Form

The symphony is in four movements, marked as follows:

  1. Un poco sostenuto – Allegro – meno Allegro (C minor)
  2. Andante sostenuto (E major)
  3. Un poco Allegretto e grazioso (A flat major)
  4. Adagio – Più Andante – Allegro non troppo, ma con brio – Più Allegro (C major)

[edit] History

The long gestation of the symphony may be attributed to two factors. First, Brahms' self-critical fastidiousness led him to destroy many of his early works. Second, there was an expectation from Brahms' friends and the public that Brahms would continue "Beethoven's inheritance" and produce a symphony of commensurate dignity and intellectual scope—an expectation that Brahms felt he could not fulfill easily in view of the monumental reputation of Beethoven.

The conductor Hans von Bülow was moved in 1877 to call the symphony Beethoven's Tenth, due to perceived similarities between the work and various compositions of Beethoven;[1] it is often pointed out that there is a strong family resemblance between the main theme of the finale of this work and the main theme of the finale of Beethoven's Ninth, the last symphony Beethoven composed, and that Brahms uses the rhythm of the "fate" motto from the opening of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. This rather annoyed Brahms; he felt that this amounted to accusations of plagiarism, whereas he saw his use of Beethoven's idiom in this symphony as an act of conscious homage. Brahms himself said, when comment was made on the similarity with Beethoven, "any ass can see that."[2] Nevertheless, this work is still often referred to as "Beethoven's tenth"[3]. However, Brahms' horn theme, with the "fate" rhythm, was noted down back in 1868 in a letter to Clara Schumann, overheard in an alphorn's playing ([1]).

Fritz Simrock, Brahms' friend and publisher, did not receive the score until after the work had been performed in three cities (with Brahms still wishing trial performances in at least three more still.)

The manuscript to the first movement apparently does not survive, but the remainder—that of the Andante, Allegretto and Finale—has been reproduced in miniature facsimile by Dover Publications.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Schonberg, Harold C. (1981). The Lives of the Great Composers, Revised, W. W. Norton & Company, New York, London, 298. ISBN 0-393-01302-2. 
  2. ^ Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68. The Kennedy Center, 2006
  3. ^ Back cover blurb for David Lee Brodbeck, Brahms: Symphony No. 1 Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (1997). "Brahms’ First Symphony has been hailed as Beethoven’s Tenth."

[edit] External links

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Symphonies by Johannes Brahms