brahms Flashcards
what are the 6 pieces op118 klavierstuckie like
The first piece in each group (Nos. 1 and 4) has an introductory character and is rather short. Both in minor keys, they are each followed by a slower, more lyrical piece (Nos. 2 and 5) with the same key center, but in major. The third member of each group (Nos. 3 and 6) is of a more heroic, epic, and even tragic character, both in minor keys one step below the key center of the first two pieces.
what does in tempo in B section mean
Here, in measures 49-56, expression is achieved through accentuation and not through tempo rubato”.
mood
passionate tenderness, nostalgic mood and the feeling of yearning it evokes
dreamy nostalgia, quiet longing, and majestic, serene beauty.
Brahms manage to make a major key nostalgic, gentle, almost softly tragic.
who influenced brahms
- influence of folk and popular music - played pop music at private gatherings, accompanied in the theatre
- love of folklore - complied manuscript collections of european folksongs
- hungarian musical gestures and gypsy performing style - TRIPLET FIGURES, USE OF RUBATO, irregular rhythms (violinist Ede Remenyi)
- Joachim - sharpening his contrapuntal skills
- schubert - long evolving melodies and major-minor inflections recall schubert
piano sonata in f minor no3 op5
piano becomes orchestra of loudly jubilant and lamenting voices - his sonatas sound like veiled symphonies
first movement - sonata form is built by subjecting a concise motif to wide ranging modulations - ‘story’ of a theme
- songs without words - reflect predilection for folk materials in his lieder
what is brahms style
- two against three rhythms
- thick chrods
- triadic melodies
subjective elements of thematic development determine objective formal structures - richness of harmonic lang and ability to spin themes from a few small motifs
eight klavierstucke op76
in 1979 - entering late phase of his writing for piano - dominated by shorter character pieces (capriccios)
- more lyrical intermezzos, melodic style that is economical rather than expansive
what is an intermezzo
in the most general sense, is a composition which fits between other musical or dramatic entities
comes from the theatrical tradition of inserting a light diversion between the acts of a larger serious work.
The intermezzos are by turns happy or active or tranquil, but never superficial. In fact they are intensely confidential and intimate, deeply private but gently shared.
In the 19th century - an instrumental piece was either a movement between two others in a larger work or a character piece that could stand on its own.
piano intermezzi by Brahms are sets of independent character pieces
Stylistically, intermezzi of the 19th century are usually lyrical and melodic
music for plays usually contained several intermezzi - Schubert’s Rosamunde, a midsummers nights dream mendelssohn
String Quartet No. 2 in A minor mendelssohn intermezzo movement
brahms later piano pieces style
breakdown of traditional distinction between melody and harmonic support
intermezzo in f minor no4 - sometimes strict, sometimes free - thematic material is compressed
11 chorale preludes for organ
published posthumously, written in 1902
- expressive inseperable from structural moments
- unique synthesis of historical and modern
b flat piano concerto op83
interpenetration of solo and orchestral parts - addition of scherzo to 3 movement design
- closer to genre of symphony than any other major concerto
- andante is almost double concerto for solo cello and piano
- finale encompasses the gypsy swagger + clownish romp of the cods
german requiem - imagery of death
op45 1868
- bible but avoids the notion of redemption through christ - ‘human’ requiem, not denominational
brahms lieders
- chromaticism, melodramatic accompaniments
- focused on folk, harmonic lang + use of counterpoint
pieces for piano and other instruments
4 Violin Sonatas
50 Collections of Art Songs
character pieces - Fantasies, Rhapsodies, Ballades, Sarabandes
how many symphonies
4
