English Commentary by Sergio Cánovas 

The fourth symphony of Brahms was composed in the summer of 1884, during his holiday stay in Mürzzuschlag, a small village in the Austrian Styria. During a meeting held at his home in the autumn of 1885, he presented to the piano together with his friend Ignaz Brüll, fragments of the work. Among the listeners were Eduard Hanslick, Hans Richter, Theodor Billroth, Max Kalbeck, who did not welcome the work favorably. Especially they didn’t like the shape of the finale.

Therefore, the work was not premired in Vienna, like the previous ones, nor was it directed by Hans Richter. The premiere took place in Meiningen on October 25, 1885. The work was directed by the composer himself with the Meininger Hofkapelle Orchestra. But the work was well received by the public and Brahms did a tour in Germany and the Netherlands conducting his last symphony.

The first movement is written in a freely sonata form. The first theme is lyrical and is presented by violins with echoes from the wood, in a sad and melancholic way and using the third interval. The theme gives rise to different variants among which the fanfare of the wind and the romantic variation interpreted by the cello and the horn, then repeated by the violins. The second theme is presented by the horn and the wood. The development is based almost entirely on the variations of the first theme, which is repeated in the recapitulation along with its romantic variant. The coda also based on the main theme ends the movement.

The second movement has an archaic theme as a base. The melody starts in the horns and then goes to the wood. It is repeated in various variations until the trumpets and violins present an interlude creating a warmer environment. Horn calls lead to the second theme, presented by bassoons and cellos. Then there is a second interlude that leads us back to the first theme by the strings. A third interlude uses fugal forms on the strings. After a new appearance of the second theme we arrive at the coda, which begins with a mysterious variation of the first theme in clarinets and bassoons, in a kind of fantastic backlight, accompanied by the murmur of the strings and timpani. It ends with the repetition of the first theme that disappears sadly.

The third movement takes the place of scherzo in the symphony. It is cheerful and playful, using unusual instrumentation in Brahms, piccolo, clarinet in C, counter-bassoon and triangle. The main theme is rhythmic and uses two variations, one of a cantabile character and another more festive as a fanfare. Then a secondary thrmr appears. The central section is quieter with some mystery dye. The repetition of the first theme does not follow the classical conventions and ends with a cheerful coda.

The last movement, which had been the most criticized by the friends of Brahms, is a Passacaglia based on the Chaconne of the final choir of Bach’s cantata 150 «Meine Tage in den Leiden». Its form is that of theme and variations. On this simple subject the creative imagination of Brahms writes thirty-four variations. Given its complexity we will only give some indications about the most notable variations.

The theme is presented by the winds. The first variation has a syncopated rhythm in the strings that will pass to the entire orchestra in the third variation. They follow warmer variations. The seventh is stronger and has the pace of a march. The flute takes over the theme in the twelfth variation. In the fourteen, bassons and trombones interpret it in a climate that sounds solemn of medieval type. After the slower variations of the central section, the initial tempo returns, increasing the rhythm until reaching the number twenty, in which the rhythm is accentuated by the winds. The upward movement culminates in the following variation with heavy chords of the orchestral tutti. The twenty-four variation stands out for its syncopated and disturbing rhythm, marked by the horns, trumpets and timpani. When the theme seems to be lost, it recovers in the twenty-nine variation in pizzicato by the strings. The sound volume grows to the rhythm of the timpani. The latest variations are more triumphant ending in a final cadence.

Picture: «Grande Odalisque» (1814) by the French painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres.

Source: http://www.historiadelasinfonia.es/hi…