Johannes Brahms - Piano Quintet in F minor, op. 34

 

 

Johannes Brahms

(1833~1897)

 

 

 

 

Piano Quintet in F minor, op. 34

 

Rashkovskiy Ilya performs with the Ariel String Quartet

at the Arthur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition (May, 2011, Tel Aviv).

           

 

 

The Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34, by Johannes Brahms was completed during the summer of

 

1864^(27세) and published in 1865. It was dedicated to Her Royal Highness Princess Anna of Hesse. Like most piano quintets composed after Robert Schumann's Piano Quintet (1842), it is written for

 

 piano and string quartet (two violins, viola and cello).

 

 

 

The piece is in four movements:

 

1. Allegro non troppo (F minor):

   첫 번째 악장에서 가장 충격적인 모습은 풍부하면서도 변화무쌍한 주제들일 것이다. 분위기를 지배하고자 하는 엄격한 주제와는 별로도, 일련의 부가적인 아이디어들이 브람스의 상상력 넘치는 전개와 다이내믹한 음악 구조를 만들어 나가는 데에 있어서 중요한 역할을 하고 있다.

2. Andante, un poco adagio (A♭ major):

   부드럽고 서정적인 악장으로 특히 흔들리는 듯한 멜로디가 슈베르트적인 분위기를 자아낸다.

3. Scherzo: Allegro (C minor – C major):

   강력한 어조의 세도막 형식의 스케르초로, 성격을 달리하는 c단조의 세 개의 주제가 번갈아 등장하고 트리오 부분에서는 C장조의 서정적인 민요풍의 주제가 앞뒤 단조 부분과 훌륭한 대조를 이룬다.

4. Finale: Poco sostenuto – Allegro non troppo – Presto, non troppo (F minor)

   슈만을 연상케 할 정도로 신비로움을 더하는 도입부(Poco sostenuto)와 전개부가 론도처럼 다루어지는 생동감 넘치는 알레그로 논 트로포(Allegro non troppo)가 화려한 종악장을 장식한다. 코다에서는 다이내믹한 클라이맥스를 수반하며 이 거대한 구조의 5중주의 마지막을 화려하게 장식한다.

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 giving it 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.

 

 

 

Anastasia Injushina, piano

Borodin Quartet

4th Helsinki Spring Light Chamber Music .2012.05.10

 

Structure

First movement

This movement begins with a unison theme in all instruments. It is in sonata form with the exposition concluding in the major-mode submediant (D flat), which is approached through a second subject in its enharmonic parallel minor (C sharp). The first theme's heavy emphasis on D flat prepares and smooths out this modulation, as well as its reversal with the approach to the expositional repeat. It is notable that Brahms' other F minor sonata-form first movements – from the Sonata Op. 5 and the Clarinet Sonata Op. 120/1 – also have an expositional goal of D flat major, and both also are followed by a slow movement in A flat major.

In the recapitulation, the bridge and first half of the second theme are transposed by a fifth, with the latter beginning in F sharp minor, before the tonic key is restored halfway through. A peaceful post-recapitulory coda in F major is cut short by a return to the stormy first theme.

 

Second movement

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.

 

Third movement

This movement is in ternary form (A-B-A) with A being a scherzo in C minor (with a secondary theme in C major and E flat major) and B being a trio in C major.

 

This movement shows the influence of Franz Schubert's String Quintet. Like Schubert's masterpiece, this movement is also in C minor/major, and ends in the same manner as Schubert's finale, with strong emphasis on the flat supertonic D-flat, before the final tonic C.

Fourth movement

The last movement "begins slowly and gropingly," with "the most melancholy moments in the entire work."^[4] 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 the minor-mode dominant key (C). The expositional closing theme, a jerky version of the first theme, leads into the recapitulation, which involves a developmental episode that emphasises the parallel major. 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 expositional closing theme (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 in F minor, 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.

 

Amadeus Quartet

Norbert Brainin, violin
Siegmund Nissel, violin
Peter Schidlof, viola
Martin Lovett, cello
Clifford Curzon, piano

Royal Festival Hall, London
7 November 1974

                

- Performers: Christoph Eschenbach (piano), Amadeus Quartet
- Year of recording: 1968

Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34a, written in 1861.

00:00 - I. Allegro non troppo
14:44 - II. Andante, un poco Adagio
23:37 - III. Scherzo. Allegro - Trio
30:51 - IV. Finale. Poco sostenuto - Allegro non troppo

This youthful work had a difficult birth. Brahms introduced it as a string quintet in 1862, but violinist Joseph Joachim found the music too weighty to be supported by strings and suggested recasting it for piano. So Brahms fashioned it into a sonata for two pianos, but this version didnt satisfy pianist Clara Schumann, who persuaded Brahms to bring strings back into the picture. The final transformation, for piano and string quartet, was finished in the fall of 1864; Brahms published it with a dedication to Princess Anna of Hesse -- not unusual for a young composer seeking patronage, but also perhaps something of a slight to Joachim and Clara Schumann, who had had such a hand in its multi-stage genesis.

The piano quintet displays young Brahms at his least risk-averse; the overall effect is often brash despite episodes of generous lyricism, and the use of themes and whipcrack changes in harmony seem impulsive, although Brahms is careful to thread certain motivic elements, particularly descending semitones, through all the movements in an effort to achieve structural unity. (This was an idea Brahms picked up from Beethovens Appassionata sonata.)

- Cunningly, Brahms begins by lulling listeners into complacency with a restrained statement of the first movements initial theme. Soon, though, the theme erupts with energy, whereupon the music slips into the unexpected key of C sharp minor for the second subject. Brahms subjects this material to a wayward development, and in the recapitulation he shifts the second theme into F sharp minor.
- The second movement, Adagio, is an episode of serenity, although it is always open to harmonic instability; its based on a faintly Slavic melody with a wistful harmonization.
- The Scherzo begins with low pizzicato cello notes, a launching pad for the syncopated main theme that creeps up through the strings and soon explodes into a robust, minor-key march. The contrasting trio section is in the comforting key of C major and manages to create a flowing, lyrical interlude out of what is essentially a fanfare figure. The scherzo ends with a unisono slide from D-flat to C, perhaps a nod to Schuberts String Quintet that ends the same way.
- After an ominous introduction, the finale builds into a fast rondo with the arrival of an impetuous but quiet theme over a nervous, almost galloping accompaniment. The first violin ushers in a second subject, slower and somewhat pleading. Brahms knocks these themes back and forth rather than supplying a formal development section, and then overlaps many of the movements -- and the entire quintets -- principal motifs in a Presto coda.

The dedication reads: "Ihrer Königlichen Hoheit der Frau Prinzessin Anna von Hessen gewidmet".