Johannes Brahms - Symphony #4, op. 98 in E Minor

Program Notes of February 6, 2010

JOHANNES BRAHMS
Born Hamburg, 7 May 1833. Died Vienna, 3 April 1897.
Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98
Composed in 1884-85 and first performed in Meiningen on October 25, 1885, with Brahms conducting. The score calls for 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, traingle, and strings. The work lasts approximately 42 minutes.

Johannes Brahms was slow to take up the symphony. He said it was because Beethoven's symphonies were too difficult an act to follow. "You cannot imagine what it is like to hear the footsteps of such a giant behind you." Beethoven had not merely written great symphonies; he had transformed the genre, finding new ways of hearing the relationships inherent in that form. One of the most striking examples of that transformation was, of course, Beethoven's Ninth. Beethoven had expanded the instrumental sound utterly beyond its own limitations into the realm of the human voice. When the baritone sang, "No, not these tones, rather...more pleasing, joyous ones," and launched us into the choral finale of the symphony, i twas to forever change the way we imagined the possibilities of the orchestra. The premiere of Beethoven's Ninth had been just nine years before Brahms was born, and the self-critical young composer shared none of the self-assurance of his contemporary, Richard Wagner.

Brahms began work on his first symphony in his early forties, and by then he was ready to take up Beethoven's mantle. Now and again in his early symphonies we hear references to Beethoven, a subtle influence here, an ironic paraphrase there. Yet each of these works contributes to the genre in a fresh, innovative way. His fourth and last Symphony is the pinnacle of his development, both as a composer of symphonies, and as a composer, period.

In each of the first three movements Brahms achieves a remarkably original approach to the classical forms of the symphony, transforming them into deeply expressive and unique insights into conventional forms. This simultaneous retaining and transforming of classical forms seem to both confirm and belie that image of Brahms as the protector of conservative classicism, which Richard Wagner's opponents so dearly held. The ambiguity of Brahms' style led some people, who were not so caught up in the polemics of the time, to call Brahms a "classical romanticist."

In any case, the fourth movement of the symphony leads the symphony into uncharted waters. Here Brahms borrows an even older, Baroque form, the passacaglia, which traditionally is a set of variations built on a recurring bass pattern. Brahms takes his bass motif from (what was then thought to be) Bach Cantata 150: "Nach Dir, O Herr, Verlanget Mich (I Long, O Lord, For Thee)". The trombones introduce the motif, after which it travels through the orchestra, at times clearly audible, at times a whisper, and at the end only implied. Just as Beethoven had used a small four-note motif to build his entire Fifth Symphony, here Brahms in an entirely new way uses a small recurring Baroque motif to develop a large-scale, orchestral panorama.