The Piano Quintet in F minor, opus 34, by Johannes Brahms was completed during the summer of 1864[1] and published in 1865.[2]It was dedicated to Her Royal Highness the Princess Anne of Hesse. Like most piano quintets, it is written for piano and string quartet (two violins, viola and cello).
The piece is in four movements:
The work began life as a string quintet (completed in 1862 and scored for two violins, viola and two cellos). Brahms transcribed the quintet into a sonata for two pianos (in which form Brahms and Carl Tausig performed it) before taking its final form. Brahms destroyed the original version for string quintet, but published the Sonata as opus 34 bis. The outer movements are more adventurous than usual in terms of harmony and are unsettling in effect. The introduction to the finale, with its rising figure in semitones, is especially remarkable. Both piano and strings play an equally important role throughout this work.
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This movement begins with a unison theme in all instruments. It is in sonata form with the exposition repeated, and the second subject is a major third down (F minor moving to C sharp minor).
This calm movement is in A flat major, with a second theme in E major—enharmonically a major third lower, as in the first movement.
This movement is in ternary form (A-B-A) with A being a scherzo and B being a trio.
The scherzo has 3 main themes:
Theme A (bars 1-12) is a pp (pianissimo) rising melody in C minor and in compound (6/8) time; it is mainly characterised by its syncopated rhythms. At bar 9 the theme is played in octaves by violin and viola, and imitated by piano.
Theme B (bars 13-21) is a quick, jerky theme in C minor in simple time which revolves around the dominant key (G).
Theme C (bars 22-37) is a loud march-like theme with accented second beats, this time in C major. A particularly striking motif within this theme is the imitation of the string melody in the piano left hand.
The scherzo also contains a fugue starting at bar 67 and revolving around the first 4 bars of theme B as a subject. This is then answered by the piano in bar 71, before more entries of the subject by the violin (bar 76) and viola (bar 84), which are combined with countersubjects in the left hand piano part (bar 67, and another at bar 71).
After this the melodies and motifs are truncated into tiny melodic cells in a complex 5-part texture. The original motif is stated in a shorter version at bar 91 and is shortened again at bar 96; these fragments are then heard in close imitation in a texture known as stretto.
The structure of the scherzo is A - B - C - A - B - Fugue - B - C - A - B.
A - b1-12 - C minor.
B - b13-21 - C minor.
C - b22-37 - C major.
A1 - b38-56 - C minor. An A♭ arpeggio, returning to the dominant, modulates to the dominant of G minor.
B1 - b57-67 - G minor, B♭ minor. The B theme modulates through B♭ minor.
Fugue - b67-100 - Modulates through a variety of keys ending on the dominant of E♭ minor.
B2 - b100-109 - E♭ minor.
C1 - b110-124 - E♭ major.
A1 - b125-157 - E♭ minor. An arpeggio returns to the dominant (B♭) and modulates to C minor.
B3 - b158-193 - C minor. A varied A motif seen in the piano part.
The final B section is extended into a coda and ends on a C major chord (a tierce de Picardie).
The trio section begins at bar 193 and is in ternary (A-B-A) form.
Section A is a 16-bar melody in C major, modulating to B major in the last 5 bars. It contrasts with the contrapuntal nature of the scherzo.
Section B begins at bar 225 and consists of a legato melody over a staccato bass. Chromatic harmony is used but tonality is retained by the use of a dominant (G) pedal note.
After this, section A is repeated; this is a repeat of the first 11 bars of melody (before the modulation to B) in a dark texture where all the instruments play in a low tessitura (lower notes). This leads to a plagal (IV-I) cadence in C major and a tonic pedal in bars 254 to 261.
This is followed by a repeat of the Scherzo up to bar 193.
The last movement "begins slowly and gropingly," with "the most melancholy moments in the entire work."[3] An introduction begins this movement, which is harmonically reminiscent of Beethoven's late string quartets. After a cadence on the dominant C, the cello introduces the first theme of the sonata-allegro, which owes its simplicity to Brahms's interest in Hungarian folk music. A vociferous, stormy bridge connects the first theme to the second theme, which is in C minor. Although the form of this movement is sonata form, the development section (in C minor) is strikingly short. The end of the recapitulation leads into a grave, quiet section in the initial tempo of the introduction, but it is arguably a simple reworking of the development section (albeit in F minor). This short section modulates to C sharp minor, which, if it pertains to D flat major of the first movement (as it is the parallel minor), may symbolize the musical odyssey of the entire piece. The tempo is presto for this greatly extended coda, which develops a new theme as well as the second theme of the sonata-allegro section, and ultimately culminates in an unrelenting outburst of fiery passion, providing an intense conclusion for the entire piece.
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