As long as there are people who are capable of responding to music with all their hearts, and as long as Brahms’s music generates precisely such a response in them, this music will live.
G. Gal
Having entered musical life as the successor of R. Schumann in romanticism, J. Brahms followed the path of a broad and individual implementation of traditions different eras German-Austrian music and German culture in general. During the period of development of new genres of program and theatrical music (F. Liszt, R. Wagner), Brahms, who turned mainly to classical instrumental forms and genres, seemed to prove their viability and promise, enriching them with skill and attitude contemporary artist. No less significant are vocal works (solo, ensemble, choral), in which the range of tradition is especially felt - from the experience of the Renaissance masters to modern everyday music and romantic lyrics.
Brahms was born in musical family. His father, who went through a difficult journey from a wandering musician-artisan to a double bass player in Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra, gave his son initial skills in playing various string and wind instruments, but Johannes was more attracted to the piano. Success in his studies with F. Kossel (later with the famous teacher E. Marxen) allowed him to take part in a chamber ensemble at the age of 10, and at 15 to give solo concert. From an early age, Brahms helped his father support his family, playing the piano in port taverns, making arrangements for the publisher Kranz, working as a pianist in the opera house, etc. Before leaving Hamburg (April 1853) on a tour with the Hungarian violinist E. Remenyi ( From the folk tunes performed in concerts, the famous “Hungarian Dances” for piano 4 and 2 hands were subsequently born) he was already the author of numerous compositions in various genres, most of them destroyed.
The very first published works (3 sonatas and a scherzo for piano, songs) revealed the early creative maturity of the twenty-year-old composer. They aroused the admiration of Schumann, whose meeting in the autumn of 1853 in Düsseldorf determined the entire subsequent life of Brahms. Schumann's music (its influence was especially directly felt in the Third Sonata - 1853, in the Variations on a Theme of Schumann - 1854 and in the last of the four ballads - 1854), the whole atmosphere of his home, the closeness of artistic interests (in his youth, Brahms, like Schumann, was fond of romantic literature- Jean-Paul, T. A. Hoffmann, I Eichendorff, etc.) had a huge impact on the young composer. At the same time, responsibility for destinies German music, as if assigned by Schumann to Brahms (he recommended him to Leipzig publishers, wrote an enthusiastic article about him “New Paths”), the catastrophe that soon followed (a suicide attempt by Schumann in 1854, his stay in a mental hospital, where Brahms visited him , finally, the death of Schumann in 1856), a romantic feeling of passionate attachment to Clara Schumann, whom Brahms devotedly helped during these hard days, - all this exacerbated the dramatic tension of Brahms’ music, its stormy spontaneity (First Concerto for Piano and Orchestra - 1854-59; sketches for the First Symphony, Third Piano Quartet, completed much later).
In terms of his way of thinking, at the same time, Brahms was initially characterized by a desire for objectivity, for strict logical orderliness, characteristic of the art of the classics. These traits were especially strengthened with Brahms’s move to Detmold (1857), where he took the position of musician at the princely court, led the choir, studied the scores of the old masters, G. F. Handel, J. S. Bach, J. Haydn and V. A. Mozart, created works in genres characteristic of music XVIII V. (2 orchestral serenades - 1857-59, choral works). His interest in choral music was also fostered by his studies with an amateur women's choir in Hamburg, where Brahms returned in 1860 (he was very attached to his parents and his hometown, but never received a permanent job there that would satisfy his aspirations). The result of the creativity of the 50s - early 60s. chamber ensembles with the participation of piano began - large-scale works, as if replacing Brahms symphonies (2 quartets - 1862, Quintet - 1864), as well as variation cycles (Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel - 1861, 2 notebooks of Variations on a Theme of Paganini - 1862-63 ) are wonderful examples of his piano style.
In 1862, Brahms went to Vienna, where he gradually settled for permanent residence. A tribute to the Viennese (including Schubert) tradition of everyday music were waltzes for piano in 4 and 2 hands (1867), as well as “Songs of Love” (1869) and “New Songs of Love” (1874) - waltzes for piano in 4 hands and a vocal quartet, where Brahms sometimes comes into contact with the style of the “King of Waltzes” - J. Strauss (son), whose music he highly appreciated. Brahms also gained fame as a pianist (he performed since 1854, especially willingly performed the piano part in his own chamber ensembles, played Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, his own works, accompanied singers, traveled to German Switzerland, Denmark, Holland, Hungary, and various German city), and after the performance in 1868 in Bremen of the “German Requiem” - his largest work (for choir, soloists and orchestra on texts from the Bible) - and as a composer. The strengthening of Brahms' authority in Vienna was facilitated by his activity as director of the choir of the Singing Academy (1863-64), and then of the choir and orchestra of the Society of Music Lovers (1872-75). Brahms was intensively active in editing piano works by W. F. Bach, F. Couperin, F. Chopin, R. Schumann for the publishing house Breitkopf and Hertel. He contributed to the publication of works by A. Dvořák, a then little-known composer who owed Brahms his warm support and participation in his destiny.
Complete creative maturity was marked by Brahms's turn to the symphony (First - 1876, Second - 1877, Third - 1883, Fourth - 1884-85). On the approaches to realizing this main work of his life, Brahms honed his skills in three string quartets (First, Second - 1873, Third - 1875), in the orchestral Variations on a Theme of Haydn (1873). Images close to symphonies are embodied in “Song of Fate” (after F. Hölderlin, 1868-71) and in “Song of the Parks” (after J. V. Goethe, 1882). The bright and inspired harmony of the Violin Concerto (1878) and the Second Piano Concerto (1881) reflected the impressions of his trips to Italy. The ideas of many of Brahms’s works are connected with its nature, as well as with the nature of Austria, Switzerland, and Germany (Brahms usually composed in the summer months). Their spread in Germany and beyond was facilitated by the activities of outstanding performers: G. Bülow, conductor of one of the best Meiningen orchestras in Germany; violinist J. Joachim (Brahms's closest friend) - leader of the quartet and soloist; singer J. Stockhausen and others. Chamber ensembles of different compositions (3 sonatas for violin and piano - 1878-79, 1886-88; Second sonata for cello and piano - 1886; 2 trios for violin, cello and piano - 1880-82, 1886; 2 string quintets - 1882, 1890), Concerto for violin and cello and orchestra (1887), works for a cappella choir were worthy companions to the symphonies. These works are from the late 80s. prepared the transition to the late period of creativity, marked by the dominance of chamber genres.
Very demanding of himself, Brahms, fearing the exhaustion of his creative imagination, thought about stopping his composing activities. However, a meeting in the spring of 1891 with the clarinetist of the Meiningen Orchestra R. Mühlfeld prompted him to create a Trio, a Quintet (1891), and then two sonatas (1894) with the participation of the clarinet. At the same time, Brahms wrote 20 piano pieces (op. 116-119), which, together with clarinet ensembles, became the result of the composer’s creative quest. This especially applies to the Quintet and to the piano intermezzos - “sorrowful notes of the heart”, combining the rigor and confidence of the lyrical statement, the sophistication and simplicity of the writing, and the pervasive melodiousness of intonations. The collection “49 German Folk Songs” (for voice and piano), published in 1894, was evidence of Brahms’s constant attention to folk song - his ethical and aesthetic ideal. Brahms worked on arrangements of German folk songs (including for a cappella choir) throughout his life; he was also interested in Slavic (Czech, Slovak, Serbian) melodies, recreating their character in his songs based on folk texts. “Four Strict Tunes” for voice and piano (a kind of solo cantata on texts from the Bible, 1895) and 11 choral organ preludes (1896) supplemented the composer’s “spiritual testament” with an appeal to the genres and artistic means of Bach’s era, which were equally close to the structure of his music, as well as folk genres.
In his music, Brahms created a truthful and complex picture of the life of the human spirit - stormy in sudden impulses, persistent and courageous in internal overcoming obstacles, cheerful and cheerful, elegiacally soft and sometimes tired, wise and strict, gentle and spiritually responsive. A craving for positive conflict resolution and reliance on sustainable and eternal values human life, which Brahms saw in nature, folk song, in the art of the great masters of the past, in the cultural tradition of his homeland, in simple human joys, is constantly combined in his music with a feeling of the unattainability of harmony, growing tragic contradictions. Brahms's 4 symphonies reflect different aspects of his worldview. In the First - a direct heir to Beethoven's symphonism - the sharpness of the immediately flaring dramatic collisions is resolved in a joyful, hymn finale. The second symphony, truly Viennese (its origins are Haydn and Schubert), could be called a “symphony of joy.” The third - the most romantic of the entire cycle - goes from an enthusiastic rapture of life to gloomy anxiety and drama, suddenly retreating before the “eternal beauty” of nature, a bright and clear morning. The fourth symphony - the crown of Brahms's symphonism - develops, according to I. Sollertinsky's definition, “from elegy to tragedy.” The greatness of those built by Brahms - the largest symphonist of the second half of the 19th century V. - buildings does not exclude the general deep lyricism of tone, inherent in all symphonies and which is the “main tonality” of his music.
E. Tsareva
Deep in content, perfect in skill, Brahms's work belongs to the remarkable artistic achievements of German culture of the second half of the 19th century. During the difficult period of its development, during the years of ideological and artistic confusion, Brahms acted as a successor and continuer classic traditions. He enriched them with the achievements of German romanticism. Great difficulties arose along this path. Brahms sought to overcome them by turning to understanding the true spirit of folk music, the richest expressive possibilities of the musical classics of the past.
“Folk song is my ideal,” said Brahms. Even in his youth, he worked with the village choir; later he spent a long time as a choral conductor and, invariably turning to German folk songs, promoting and processing them. That is why his music has such unique national features.
Brahms treated folk music of other nationalities with great attention and interest. The composer spent a significant part of his life in Vienna. Naturally, this entailed the inclusion of nationally distinctive elements of the Austrian style into Brahms’ music. folk art. Vienna also determined the great importance of Hungarian and Slavic music in Brahms's work. “Slavicisms” are clearly noticeable in his works: in the frequently used turns and rhythms of the Czech polka, in some techniques of intonation development, modulation. The intonations and rhythms of Hungarian folk music, mainly in the verbunkos style, that is, in the spirit of urban folklore, were clearly reflected in a number of Brahms’s works. V. Stasov noted that the famous “Hungarian Dances” of Brahms are “worthy of their great glory.”
Sensitive penetration into the mental structure of another nation is available only to artists who are organically connected with their national culture. This is Glinka in “Spanish Overtures” or Bizet in “Carmen”. Such is Brahms - an outstanding national artist of the German people, who turned to the Slavic and Hungarian folk elements.
In his declining years, Brahms dropped a significant phrase: “The two most important events of my life were the unification of Germany and the completion of the publication of Bach’s works.” Here, seemingly incomparable things stand in the same row. But Brahms, usually stingy with words, put deep meaning into this phrase. Passionate patriotism, a vested interest in the fate of his homeland, and an ardent faith in the strength of the people were naturally combined with a sense of admiration and admiration for the national achievements of German and Austrian music. The works of Bach and Handel, Mozart and Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann served as his guiding lights. He also closely studied ancient polyphonic music. Trying to better understand the patterns musical development, Brahms paid great attention to issues of artistic skill. He contributed to notebook wise words of Goethe: “Form (in art.- M.D.) is formed by thousands of years of efforts of the most remarkable masters, and those who follow them cannot master it so quickly.”
But Brahms did not turn away from new music: rejecting any manifestations of decadence in art, he spoke with a feeling of true sympathy about many of the works of his contemporaries. Brahms highly appreciated “Die Meistersinger” and much of “Die Walküre”, although he had a negative attitude towards “Tristan”; admired the melodic gift and transparent instrumentation of Johann Strauss; spoke warmly of Grieg; Bizet called the opera “Carmen” his “favorite”; Dvorak had “real, rich, charming talent.” Brahms's artistic tastes show him as a lively, spontaneous musician, alien to academic isolation.
This is how he appears in his work. It is full of exciting life content. In the difficult conditions of German reality in the 19th century, Brahms fought for individual rights and freedom, and praised courage and moral fortitude. His music is full of anxiety for the fate of man and carries words of love and consolation. She has a restless, excited tone.
The warmth and sincerity of Brahms' music, close to Schubert, are most fully revealed in the vocal lyrics, which occupy a significant place in his creative heritage. Brahms' works also contain many pages of philosophical lyricism, which is so characteristic of Bach. In developing lyrical images, Brahms often relied on existing genres and intonations, especially Austrian folklore. He resorted to genre generalizations and used dance elements of the landler, waltz, and czardas.
These images are also present in Brahms' instrumental works. Here the features of drama, rebellious romance, and passionate impetuosity emerge more sharply, which brings him closer to Schumann. In Brahms's music there are also images imbued with cheerfulness and courage, courageous strength and epic power. In this area, he appears as a continuer of Beethoven's traditions in German music.
Acutely conflictual content is inherent in many of Brahms' chamber instrumental and symphonic works. They recreate the exciting emotional dramas, often of a tragic nature. These works are characterized by the excitement of the narrative; there is something rhapsodic in their presentation. But freedom of expression in Brahms’s most valuable works is combined with an iron logic of development: he sought to clothe the boiling lava of romantic feelings in strict classical forms. The composer was overwhelmed by many ideas; his music was saturated with figurative richness, contrasting changes of moods, and a variety of shades. Their organic fusion required strict and clear work of thought, high contrapuntal technique, ensuring the connection of disparate images.
But not always and not in all of his works Brahms managed to balance emotional excitement with the strict logic of musical development. Those close to him romantic images sometimes came into conflict with classic method of presentation. The disturbed balance sometimes led to vagueness, vague complexity of expression, and gave rise to incomplete, unsteady outlines of images; on the other hand, when the work of thought took precedence over emotionality, Brahms’ music acquired rational, passive-contemplative features (Tchaikovsky saw only these, distant to him, sides in Brahms’s work and therefore could not correctly evaluate it. Brahms’ music, in his words, “accurately teases and irritates the musical feeling”; he found it dry, cold, foggy, vague. ).
But on the whole, his works captivate with their remarkable skill and emotional spontaneity in conveying significant ideas and carrying them out logically. For, despite the inconsistency of individual artistic decisions, Brahms’s work is permeated with the struggle for the true content of music, for the high ideals of humanistic art.
Life and creative path
Johannes Brahms was born in northern Germany, in Hamburg, on May 7, 1833. His father, who came from a peasant family, was a city musician (horn player, later double bassist). The composer's childhood was spent in poverty. From an early age, thirteen years old, he already performs as a tapper at dance evenings. In the following years, he earned money by giving private lessons, playing as a pianist during theater intermissions, and occasionally participating in serious concerts. At the same time, having taken a composition course with the respectable teacher Eduard Marxen, who instilled in him a love of classical music, he composed a lot. But the works of the young Brahms are unknown to anyone, and in order to earn a penny, one has to write salon plays and transcriptions, which are published under various pseudonyms (about 150 opuses in total.) “Few people lived as hard as I did,” Brahms said, recalling the years of his youth.
In 1853, Brahms left his hometown; Together with the violinist Eduard (Ede) Remenyi, a Hungarian political emigrant, he went on a long concert tour. His acquaintance with Liszt and Schumann dates back to this period. The first of them treated the hitherto unknown, modest and shy twenty-year-old composer with his usual benevolence. An even warmer welcome awaited him at Schumann's. Ten years have passed since the latter stopped taking part in the “New Musical Journal” he created, but, amazed by Brahms’ original talent, Schumann broke the silence and wrote his last article, entitled “New Paths.” He called the young composer a complete master who “perfectly expresses the spirit of the times.” The work of Brahms, and by this time he was already the author of significant piano works (among them three sonatas), attracted everyone's attention: representatives of both the Weimar and Leipzig schools wanted to see him in their ranks.
Brahms wanted to stay away from the hostility of these schools. But he fell under the irresistible charm of the personality of Robert Schumann and his wife, the famous pianist Clara Schumann, for whom Brahms maintained love and faithful friendship over the next four decades. The artistic views and convictions (as well as prejudices, in particular against Liszt!) of this wonderful couple were indisputable for him. And therefore, when at the end of the 50s, after Schumann’s death, an ideological struggle for his artistic heritage broke out, Brahms could not help but take part in it. In 1860, he spoke in print (for the only time in his life!) against the assertion of the New German school that its aesthetic ideals were shared by All best composers Germany. Due to an absurd coincidence, along with the name of Brahms, this protest bore the signatures of only three young musicians (including the outstanding violinist Joseph Joachim, a friend of Brahms); the rest, more famous names turned out to be omitted from the newspaper. This attack, composed moreover in harsh, inept terms, was met with hostility by many, in particular Wagner.
Not long before, Brahms's performance of his First Piano Concerto in Leipzig was marked by a scandalous failure. Representatives of the Leipzig school reacted to him just as negatively as the Weimarians. Thus, having abruptly broken away from one bank, Brahms was unable to land on the other. A courageous and noble man, he, despite the difficulties of existence and the cruel attacks of the militant Wagnerians, did not make creative compromises. Brahms closed himself off, isolated himself from polemics, and outwardly withdrew from the struggle. But he continued it in his creativity: taking the best from the artistic ideals of both schools, with your music proved (though not always consistently) the inseparability of the principles of ideology, nationality and democracy as the foundations of life-truth art.
The beginning of the 60s was, to a certain extent, a time of crisis for Brahms. After storms and battles, he gradually comes to realize his creative tasks. It was at this time that he began long-term work on major vocal-symphonic works (“German Requiem”, 1861-1868), on the First Symphony (1862-1876), intensively manifested himself in the field of chamber literature (piano quartets, quintet, cello sonata). Trying to overcome romantic improvisation, Brahms intensively studied folk song, as well as Viennese classics (songs, vocal ensembles, choirs).
1862 is a turning point in Brahms' life. Unable to find a use for his powers in his homeland, he moved to Vienna, where he remained until his death. A wonderful pianist and conductor, he is looking for a permanent position. His hometown of Hamburg refused him this, leaving him with an unhealed wound. In Vienna, he twice tried to gain a foothold in the service as the head of the Singing Chapel (1863-1864) and conductor of the Society of Friends of Music (1872-1875), but left these positions: they did not bring him much artistic satisfaction or material security. Brahms's position improves only in the mid-70s, when he finally receives public recognition. Brahms performs a lot with his symphonic and chamber works, visiting a number of cities in Germany, Hungary, Holland, Switzerland, Galicia, and Poland. He loved these trips, meeting new countries, and as a tourist he was in Italy eight times.
The 70s and 80s were the time of Brahms's creative maturity. During these years, symphonies, violin and Second piano concertos, many chamber works (three violin sonatas, Second cello sonata, Second and Third piano trios, three string quartets), songs, choirs, and vocal ensembles were written. As before, Brahms in his work turns to the most various genres musical art (with the exception of musical drama, although he was planning to write an opera). He strives to combine deep content with democratic clarity and therefore, along with complex instrumental cycles, he creates music of a simple everyday nature, sometimes for home music playing (vocal ensembles “Songs of Love”, “Hungarian Dances”, waltzes for piano, etc.). Moreover, working on both levels, the composer does not change his creative style, using his amazing contrapuntal skill in popular works and without losing simplicity and warmth in his symphonies.
The breadth of Brahms's ideological and artistic horizons is also characterized by a kind of parallelism in solving creative problems. Thus, almost simultaneously he wrote two orchestral serenades of different types (1858 and 1860), two piano quartets (op. 25 and 26, 1861), two string quartets (op. 51, 1873); immediately after the end of the Requiem, he began to write “Songs of Love” (1868-1869); along with the “Festive”, he creates the “Tragic Overture” (1880-1881); The First, “pathetic” symphony is adjacent to the Second, “pastoral” (1876-1878); The third, “heroic” - with the Fourth, “tragic” (1883-1885) (To draw attention to the dominant aspects of the content of Brahms’ symphonies, their conventional names are indicated here.). In the summer of 1886, such contrasting works of the chamber genre as the dramatic Second Cello Sonata (Op. 99), the bright, idyllic Second Violin Sonata (Op. 100), the epic Third Piano Trio (Op. 101) and passionately excited, pathetic Third Violin Sonata (op. 108).
At the end of his life - Brahms died on April 3, 1897 - his creative activity weakened. He conceives a symphony and a number of other major works, but carries out his plans only for chamber plays and songs. Not only has the circle of genres narrowed, the circle of images has narrowed. One cannot help but see in this a manifestation of the creative fatigue of a lonely person, disappointed in the struggle of life. The painful illness that brought him to the grave (liver cancer) also took its toll. Nevertheless, these recent years have also been marked by the creation of truthful, humanistic music that glorifies high moral ideals. It is enough to cite as examples the piano intermezzos (op. 116-119), the clarinet quintet (op. 115) or the “Four Strict Tunes” (op. 121). And Brahms captured his undying love for folk art in a wonderful collection of forty-nine German folk songs for voice and piano.
Style Features
Brahms is the last major representative of German music of the 19th century, who developed the ideological and artistic traditions of advanced national culture. His work, however, is not without some contradictions, for he was not always able to understand the complex phenomena of our time and was not involved in the socio-political struggle. But Brahms never betrayed high humanistic ideals, did not compromise with bourgeois ideology, and rejected everything false and transitory in culture and art.
Brahms created his own original creative style. His musical language is marked by individual characteristics. Typical for him are the intonations associated with German folk music, which affects the structure of themes, the use of melodies based on triad tones, and the plagal turns inherent in ancient layers of song. And plagality plays a big role in harmony; Often a minor subdominant is also used in major, and a major subdominant in minor. Brahms's works are characterized by modal originality. The “flickering” of major and minor is very characteristic of it. Thus, the main musical motive of Brahms can be expressed by the following scheme (the first scheme characterizes the thematic main party The first symphony, the second - a similar theme to the Third symphony):
The given ratio of thirds and sixths in the structure of the melody, as well as the techniques of third or sixth doubling, are favorites of Brahms. In general, it is characterized by emphasizing the third degree, which is the most sensitive in the coloring of the modal inclination. Unexpected modulation deviations, modal variability, major-minor mode, melodic and harmonic major - all this is used to show variability and richness of shades of content. Complex rhythms, the combination of even and odd meters, the introduction of triplets, dotted rhythm, and syncopation into a smooth melodic line also serve this purpose.
Unlike rounded vocal melodies, Brahms' instrumental themes are often open-ended, making them difficult to remember and perceive. This tendency to “open” thematic boundaries is caused by the desire to maximally saturate the music with development (Taneev also strived for this.). B.V. Asafiev rightly noted that in Brahms, even in lyrical miniatures, “one can feel development».
Brahms's interpretation of the principles of formation is particularly unique. He was well aware of the vast experience accumulated by European musical culture, and, along with modern formal schemes, he resorted to long-ago, seemingly out-of-use ones: such as the old sonata form, variation suite, basso ostinato techniques; he gave a double exposure in a concert, applying the principles of concerto grosso. However, this was not done for the sake of stylization, not for aesthetic admiration of outdated forms: such a comprehensive use of established structural patterns was of a deeply fundamental nature.
In contrast to the representatives of the Liszt-Wagnerian movement, Brahms wanted to prove his ability old compositional means for transmission modern building thoughts and feelings, and practically proved this with his creativity. Moreover, he considered the most valuable, vital means of expression, defended in classical music, as a weapon in the struggle against the decay of form and artistic arbitrariness. An opponent of subjectivism in art, Brahms defended the precepts of classical art. He turned to them also because he sought to curb the unbalanced impulse of his own fantasy, which overwhelmed his excited, anxious, restless feelings. He did not always succeed in this; sometimes, when implementing large-scale plans, significant difficulties arose. All the more persistently Brahms creatively implemented old forms and established principles of development. He brought a lot of new things into them.
Of great value are his achievements in the development of variation principles of development, which he combined with sonata principles. Drawing on Beethoven (see his 32 variations for piano or the finale of the Ninth Symphony), Brahms sought in his cycles a contrasting but purposeful, “cross-cutting” dramaturgy. Evidence of this is the Variations on a Theme of Handel, on a Theme of Haydn or the brilliant passacaglia of the Fourth Symphony.
In his interpretation of the sonata form, Brahms also gave individual solutions: he combined freedom of expression with the classical logic of development, romantic emotion with a strictly rational conduct of thought. The multiplicity of images in the embodiment of dramatic content is a typical feature of Brahms' music. Therefore, for example, five themes are contained in the exposition of the first part of the piano quintet, three different themes have the main part of the finale of the Third Symphony, two secondary ones - in the first part of the Fourth Symphony, etc. These images are contrasted, which is often emphasized by modal relationships ( for example, in the first part of the First Symphony, the side part is given in Es-dur, and the final part in es-moll; in the similar part of the Third Symphony, when comparing the same parts A-dur - a-moll in the finale of the named symphony - C-dur - c; -moll, etc.).
Brahms paid special attention to the development of the images of the main party. Its themes are often repeated throughout the movement without changes and in the same key, which is characteristic of the rondo sonata form. This also reveals the ballad features of Brahms' music. The main part is sharply contrasted with the final (sometimes connecting) part, which is endowed with an energetic dotted rhythm, marching, and often proud turns drawn from Hungarian folklore (see the first movements of the First and Fourth Symphonies, the violin and Second Piano Concerto, and others). The side parts, based on the intonations and genres of Viennese everyday music, are unfinished in nature and do not become the lyrical centers of the part. But they are an effective factor in development and are often subject to major changes in development. The latter is carried out concisely and dynamically, since the development elements have already been introduced into the exhibition.
Brahms excelled in the art of emotional switching, combining images of different qualities in a single development. This is helped by multilaterally developed motivic connections, the use of their transformation, and the widespread use of contrapuntal techniques. Therefore, he was extremely successful in returning to the starting point of the narrative - even within the framework of a simple three-part form. This is even more successfully achieved in the sonata allegro when approaching the reprise. Moreover, to intensify the drama, Brahms, like Tchaikovsky, likes to shift the boundaries of development and reprise, which sometimes leads to the refusal to fully carry out the main part. Accordingly, the value of the code as a moment increases high voltage in the development of the part. Remarkable examples of this are contained in the first movements of the Third and Fourth Symphonies.
Brahms is a master of musical dramaturgy. Both within the boundaries of one part and throughout the instrumental cycle, he gave a consistent statement of a single idea, but, focusing all attention on internal logic of musical development, often neglected externally colorful presentation of thoughts. This is Brahms's attitude to the problem of virtuosity; This is also his interpretation of the capabilities of instrumental ensembles and orchestras. He did not use purely orchestral effects and, in his passion for full and dense harmonies, doubled the parts, combined voices, and did not strive to individualize and contrast them. Nevertheless, when the content of the music required it, Brahms found the unusual flavor he needed (see the examples above). Such self-restraint reveals one of the most characteristic features of his creative method, which is characterized by noble restraint of expression.
Brahms said: “We can no longer write as beautifully as Mozart; let’s try to write at least as purely as he did.” We are talking not only about technique, but also about the content of Mozart’s music, its ethical beauty. Brahms created music much more complex than Mozart, reflecting the complexity and contradictions of his time, but he followed this motto, because the desire for high ethical ideals, a sense of deep responsibility for everything he did, was marked creative life Johannes Brahms.
Brahms's artistic inclinations in the field of musical genres were changeable.
At first, in his youth, he was more attracted to the piano, soon then the time came for chamber instrumental ensembles; in the years of full flowering of Brahms's genius, in the 60-80s, the importance of large vocal and orchestral works increased, then purely symphonic ones; towards the end of his life he returned to chamber instrumental and piano music. But over many years of intense creative work, he invariably retained an interest in the vocal genre. He dedicated 380 works to this genre; about 200 original songs for one voice with piano, 20 duets, 60 quartets, about 100 a cappella or accompanied choirs.
Vocal music served as a kind of creative laboratory for Brahms. While working on it - both as a composer and as a leader of amateur singing associations - he came into closer contact with democratic musical life. In this area, Brahms tested the possibility of conveying an ideologically deep concept through accessible, intelligible means of expression; endowed his compositions with song themes and improved the techniques of contrapuntal development. The melodiousness, length of many melodies of his instrumental works, the peculiarities of their structure and polyphonic fabric, the voices of which live an independent life and at the same time are closely connected with each other, arose precisely on a vocal-speech basis.
At the same time, vocal music allows us to better understand and more clearly discover the spiritual needs of the composer, his interests in the field of related arts, poetry and literature. Brahms' judgments on these issues were definite, and his sympathies were persistent in his mature years.
In his youth he was fond of Schiller and Shakespeare, as well as Jean-Paul and Hoffmann, Tieck and Eichendorff. Like other figures of German culture in the mid-19th century, Brahms was under the spell of romantic poetry. But the angrier attitude towards her changed. Over the years, the romantic pose, romantic irony, and romantic disheveled feelings became more and more alien to him. He began to look for other images in poetry.
It is difficult to detect the sympathy of the mature Brahms for any one literary movement, although the Romantic poets still predominate. In vocal music he used poems from more than fifty poets. An admirer of the composer, Ophüls collected and in 1898 published the texts set to music by Brahms. The result is an interesting anthology of German poetry, in which, along with popular names, there are also many that are now known to few people. But Brahms was attracted not so much by the author’s individual style as by the content of the poem, the simplicity and naturalness of speech, the unpretentious tone of the story about the significant and serious, about life and death, about love for the homeland and loved ones. He had a negative attitude towards poetic abstraction and vague, pretentious symbolism.
Among the poets to whom Brahms most often turned, several names stand out.
Of the early romantics, he fell in love with L. Hölti, who died in his young years, whose heartfelt poetry combines naive emotional impetuosity with restrained grief. (Brahms loved Hölti for his “beautiful, warm words” and wrote 4 songs based on his poems) From the representatives of late romanticism I. Eichendorff, L. Uhland, F. Rhockert, he took poems marked by sincerity, simplicity of form, and closeness to folk sources. He was interested in the same features in G. Heine and the poets of the so-called Munich school - P. Heise, E. Geibel and others. He appreciated their musicality of verse and perfection of form, but did not approve of their predilection for refined expressions. He also did not accept chauvinistic motives in the works of such poets as D. Lilienkron, M. Schenkendorf or K. Lemke, but appreciated their sketches of native nature, imbued with a light, joyful, or dreamy, elegiac mood.
Above all, Brahms valued the poetry of Goethe and G. Keller, and warmly treated the best short story writer in Germany at that time, T. Storm, a poet from the north of the country, where Brahms came from. However, while admiring Goethe, Brahms only occasionally turned to the musical implementation of his poetry. “It is so perfect,” he said, “that music is unnecessary here.” (I recall a similar attitude of Tchaikovsky to Pushkin’s poems.) Little represented in the vocal works of Brahms and Gottfried Keller, this outstanding representative of German realistic literature of the 19th century, who lived in Switzerland. They had close friendly relations, and many common features can be found in their creative style. But Brahms probably believed that the perfection of Keller's poems, like Goethe's, limited the possibility of their musical implementation.
The two poets are most fully reflected in Brahms's vocal lyrics. This is Klaus Groth and Georg Daumer.
Brahms had a long friendship with Groth, a professor of literary history at Kiel. They both owe their education to themselves; both are from Holstein, in love with the customs and morals of their native northern region. (Groth even wrote poetry in the northern peasant dialect - platt-deutsch.) In addition, Brahms’s friend was a passionate music lover, connoisseur and connoisseur folk song.
The situation was different with Daumer. This now forgotten poet, who belonged to the Munich circle, published in 1855 a collection of poems, “Polydora. World Book of Songs" (based on the famous collection of the poet-educator I. Herder "Voices of Nations in Songs", 1778-1779). Daumer gave a free transcription of poetic motifs of the peoples of many countries. Was it not this creative treatment of folklore that attracted the attention of Brahms to the poet? After all, in his works he also freely approached the use and development of folk melodies.
Still, Daumer's poetry is shallow, although it is in the spirit of folk songs. The ingenuous tone of the narrative, the sensual heat, the naive spontaneity—all this attracted Brahms.
They also attracted him in the translations of other poets from folk poetry - Italian (P. Geise, A. Kopish), Hungarian (G. Konrath), Slavic (I. Wenzig, Z. Kapper).
In general, Brahms preferred folk texts: more than a quarter of his 197 solo songs are based on them.
This is no coincidence.
At the age of 14, Brahms tried his hand at transcribing folk melodies for a choir, and three years before his death he wrote his spiritual testament - 49 songs for voice and piano. In the interim - over the course of many decades - he again and again turned to folk songs, reworking some of his favorite tunes two or three times, learning them with choirs. Back in 1857 Brahms wrote. To Joachim: “I’m working on a folk song for my own pleasure.” “I greedily absorb it into myself,” he said. It gave him much joy to conduct his own choral arrangements of folk melodies in Hamburg. And later, in 1893, Brahms marked his first concert at the Vienna Singing Chapel with the performance of three folk songs. Ten years later, having headed the Society of Friends of Music, he invariably included folk songs in concert programs.
Reflecting on the fate of modern vocal lyricism, believing that “it is now developing in the wrong direction,” Brahms uttered the wonderful words: “Folk song is my ideal” (in a letter to Clara Schumann, I860). In it he found support in his search for a national structure of music. At the same time, turning not only to German or Austrian song, but also to Hungarian or Czech, Brahms tried to find more objective means of expression to convey the subjective feelings that overwhelmed him. Not only melodies, but also poetic texts of folk songs served as faithful assistants to the composer in this quest.
This also resulted in a predilection for the strophic form. “My short songs are dearer to me than the larger ones,” he admitted. Striving for the most generalized translation of the text into music, Brahms captured not so much declamatory moments, as is partly characteristic of Schumann, especially Hugo Wolf, but the correctly captured mood, the general structure of the expressive pronunciation of the verse.
With the exception of theatrical music (he did not write operas), there is no area of composing that Johannes Brahms did not turn to. His music represents all musical genres from symphony to music for home playing for 4 hands.
Brahms' achievements were especially great in the field of symphonic music. During the years when the symphony was going through a crisis in the West, he came up with a new concept, proving with his creativity the viability of a classical-type symphony. Following L. Beethoven and F. Schubert, I. Brahms interpreted the cyclic composition of the symphony as an instrumental drama, the four parts of which are united by a certain (each time individually decided) poetic idea.
The content of four symphonies written from the mid-70s to the mid-80s contrasts. The music of the 1st symphony (1874-1876) is marked by a pathetic mood, the 2nd symphony (1877) is pastoral, the 3rd symphony (1883) expresses the heroism of daring, tragedy predominates in the 4th symphony (especially in the finale; 1884-1885 ). The composer's four symphonies are considered to be the highest achievements of post-Beethoven symphonism, along with the symphonies of F. Schubert.
In terms of their significance, his concerts are not inferior to symphonies - 2 piano, 1 violin and 1 double (for violin and cello), which I. Brahms interprets as symphonies with solo instruments. In contrast to the impetuous, emotionally unbalanced 1st piano concerto, the 2nd concerto (1878-1881) is more integral in concept: the 1st movement is marked by epic breadth and heroic scope, the demonic character is inherent in the music of the scherzo, the 3rd movement is filled with sublime feeling, the ending - cheerful fun. The Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (1878), along with the violin concertos of L. Beethoven, F. Mendelssohn and P. I. Tchaikovsky, belongs to the best examples of concert violin literature. In the double concerto for violin and cello (1887), J. Brahms used some techniques of the ancient concerto grosso.
Vocal creativity is exceptionally rich: about 200 original songs for one voice with piano, 20 vocal duets, 60 quartets, about 100 unaccompanied or accompanied choirs. Vocal music served the master as a kind of laboratory. While working on it, both as a composer and as a leader of singing associations, Johannes Brahms was in close contact with democratic musical life. The range of poets reflected in his music is wide. He was mainly attracted to texts characterized by emotional immediacy.
Folk poetry, to which I. Brahms often turned, served as his highest example. He called his solo compositions “songs” or “tunes” for voice and piano. With the title he tried to emphasize leading value vocal part (continued the traditions of F. Schubert). This is also related to their preference for the strophic (couplet) form. “My short songs are dearer to me than the extended ones,” said the composer.
The vocal lyrics of I. Brahms are very diverse. A large group is formed by folk songs, in which the influence of German, Austrian, and sometimes Slavic melodies is noticeable. Sometimes they sound a cheerful rhythm of step, the steady movement of a march. Dance-genre images of the Austrian Ländler or waltz often appear. These songs contain the warmest pages of the music of Johannes Brahms, filled with open, spontaneous feeling.
The area of philosophical lyrics is marked by a different content. These are restrained thoughts, passionate dreams of peace. The same circle of images can be traced in vocal ensembles and choral music. Among the ensembles, 2 notebooks of “Songs of Love” stand out, designated by the author as waltzes for 4 voices and piano for 4 hands. A special place in the vocal creativity of I. Brahms is occupied by the processing of folk songs (over 100). The composer addressed this work for many years and approached it very demandingly. He was equally excited by songs from different times. First of all, he was not interested in the historical authenticity of the tune, but in the expressiveness of the musical and poetic image. He was very sensitive not only to melodies, but also to lyrics, carefully searching for them best options. Arrangements by Johannes Brahms are distinguished by their subtlety in the implementation of the details of folk melody.
There are a variety of choral works (with accompaniment and a capella), vocal and symphonic works by the composer, among which the “German Requiem” stands out. The author abandoned the Latin Catholic text of the funeral mass, replacing it with German, borrowed from spiritual books. Epic power and soulful lyricism are the main areas of expressiveness of the requiem. I. Brahms does not depict the horrors of the “Last Judgment”, does not make a plea for peace for the deceased - he strives for consolation of those who have lost loved ones, trying to instill cheerfulness and hope in the souls of the suffering and unfortunate (powerful fugues 3 and 6 stand out). th parts, lyricism of the 4th and 5th parts).
The same breadth of interests is observed in the chamber instrumental field: here there are chamber ensembles of the most diverse composition and piano music. It especially clearly demonstrated the composer's characteristic penchant for finishing details. The years 1854-1865 accounted for the largest number of chamber works - 9 different ensembles. Among them are the 1st piano trio (1854), a trio with horn (1856) and one of the most significant works of I. Brahms - a piano quintet. While creating these works, the composer was in a state of creative ferment and tried himself in different directions. He either brings down on the listener an avalanche of dramatic experiences overwhelming him, or strives to find more restrained, classical means of expression.
The composer's interest in the piano was constant, which is quite natural, since he was a wonderful pianist who constantly performed in an ensemble with violinists (Edouard Remenyi, Joseph Joachim), singers, and Clara Schumann.
The piano heritage of Johannes Brahms consists of 3 sonatas, called by Schumann “hidden symphonies” (1852-1853), indeed, their music clearly breaks out of the traditional chamber framework. In addition to these sonatas, I. Brahms dedicated 5 variation cycles to the piano (among them 2 notebooks of “Variations on a Theme of Paganini”, 1862-1863, “Variations on a Theme of Handel”), ballads and rhapsodies, 27 small pieces (not counting those written for piano in 4 hands). They embodied various aspects of the composer’s work. At first he was fascinated by sonata cycles, then he developed variation techniques, and from the mid-60s he turned to miniatures. These are “Waltzes” (1865), capturing images of Viennese musical life, and “Hungarian Dances” (1.2 notebooks, 1869; 3.4 notebooks, 1880) - a tribute to admiration for Hungarian folklore. In the waltzes, J. Brahms appears as a “Schubertian”; their music is close to the character of the Ländler, permeated with song intonations. “Hungarian Dances” are more contrasting; within one piece the composer combines several melodies. “Waltzes” and “Hungarian Dances” by J. Brahms, arranged for various instruments and orchestra, have gained wide popularity.
In the works of the last period of Johannes Brahms's creativity, “Capriccio” (3 plays) and “Intermezzo” (14 plays) stand out. Intermezzo became the main genre of the late piano creativity, which reveals personal, intimate facets of the composer’s mental life. In his interpretation, this genre gains independence (whereas previously this name was given to one of the middle parts of a sonata-symphonic or suite cycle). Elegance, exclusive appeal to chamber genres, the primacy of the lyrical-narrative principle, the displacement of sonatas by variation, the ever-increasing unity in cyclical works, the extreme saturation of the fabric with thematicism - these are some characteristic features late Brahmsian style, potentially embedded in earlier works. Here the whole world of Brahmsian lyricism was summarized - from enlightened peace (intermezzo Es dur, op. 117) to deep tragedy (intermezzo es moll, op. 118). The flexible transmission of moods is marked by extreme laconicism, and the complex content is expressed by meager means, primarily the “talking” melodic style.
In the musical art of the 2nd half of the 19th century, Johannes Brahms was the most profound and consistent successor classical traditions, enriching them with new romantic content. The drama of his music is closely connected with the work of L. Beethoven; the desire to rely on everyday song and dance genres - with F. Schubert; passionate, intense tone of personal narrative - with R. Schumann; rebellious pathos - with R. Wagner.
The desire to convey emotional states in their variability and ambiguity required a subtle, detailed touch. Unlike G. Berlioz, R. Wagner or F. Liszt, J. Brahms is more of a graphic artist than a colorist: the motifs that form his music are intertwined in a whimsical pattern. He is a builder, the creator of a large, continuously developing form.
The tendency towards constant interaction, interpenetration and synthesis is evident throughout the work of I. Brahms. Without providing material for the synthesis of arts, forms and genres (for example, the symphonic poem of F. Liszt or the musical drama of R. Wagner), it nevertheless represents a variety of forms of synthesis and interaction from the largest - at the level of method and style - to thematicism.
In the picture of genres, this is manifested, for example, in the transfer of the techniques of chamber detailed writing into a symphony, the refined style of piano miniature into a concert, symphonic principles into chamber genres, organ music into symphonic and piano music, choral texture - into instrumental, etc. One can even notice that the characteristic features of song thematicism appear even more clearly than in songs in the piano miniature.
This is how the equality of rights characteristic of Johannes Brahms arises, the equivalence of all genre spheres - each of them has a great completeness of figurative and stylistic expression (which does not exclude, of course, specificity, especially noticeable, for example, in choral music). This is facilitated by the composer’s very frequent intensive use of the genre over a relatively short period of his creative career: three piano sonatas, three string quartets, four symphonies form a kind of “enlarged cycles”, where the main guarantee of bonding is the uniqueness of each component. Here in J. Brahms one can see a reflection of the general tendency of music of the 19th century - towards the greatest possible coverage of life phenomena, maximally embodied, for example, in Wagner's tetralogy. The second tendency - towards the independence and completeness of each “separateness” - is manifested in the meaning of microintonation, detail, as well as miniature and intimacy, towards which the composer’s creative evolution is directed.
The very picture of genres in the works of Johannes Brahms reveals his wide implementation national tradition. First of all, it is worth noting the high culture of instrumentalism, manifested in the use of a symphony, an overture, a suite (serenade), a concert, a variety of chamber genres (with the participation of various instruments), and piano music (sonata, miniature). , ballad, variations) and to organ music (prelude and fugue, chorale preludes), that is, to genres that reflect the aspirations of different eras. In the field of vocal music, it is also a generalization of various time traditions characteristic of German culture. This is a song that includes adaptations and reproductions of folk and ancient samples, developing modern romantic trend and approaching the ancient solo cantata (“Four Strict Tunes”), and choral works associated with oratorio - old and modern.
He worked a lot in the chamber instrumental genre. His characteristic penchant for fine artistic detailing of the image determined this interest. Moreover, the intensity of work increased in critical years, when Brahms felt the need to further develop and improve his creative principles. This was the case in the late 50s and early 60s and later - at the turn of the 80s-90s: most of his chamber works were created during these periods. In total, Brahms left twenty-four large, mostly four-part, cycles. Sixteen of them use piano.
Endowed with varied, rich content sonatas- two for cello and three for violin and piano (In the late period of creativity, two more sonatas were written - for clarinet and piano.).
From the passionate elegy of the first part (we especially note the wonderful 32-bar melody of the main part!) to the sad, Viennese waltz of the second part and the courageous energy of the finale - this is the main circle of images First cello sonata in e-moll op. 38. The Second Sonata in F major op. is imbued with the spirit of rebellious romance. 99. And although this work is inferior in artistic integrity to its predecessor, it surpasses it in depth of feelings and exciting drama.
Living evidence of Brahms' inexhaustible creative imagination is contained in violin sonatas. Each of them is uniquely individual. First G major op. 78 attracts with its poetry, broad, fluid and smooth development; it also has landscape moments - as if the spring sun is breaking through the gloomy, rainy clouds... Second Sonata in A major op. 100 songs, bright and cheerful, presented concisely and collectedly. The second part reveals kinship with Grieg. In general, a certain “sonatinity” - the absence of much development - sets it apart from other chamber works by Brahms.
Among the three piano trios The last one especially stands out - c-moll op. 101. The manly strength, richness and plethora of the music of this work are deeply impressive. The first movement is imbued with epic power, where the iron, steady tread of the theme of the main part is complemented by the inspired hymn melody of the side:
The initial grain of their intonations coincides. This turnover permeates further development. The images of the scherzo, its entire bizarre structure, contrast with the third movement, where a simple, exciting melody dominates folk spirit. The finale provides an organic completion of the cycle, affirming the idea of the creative will of man, glorifying his daring exploits.
One of Brahms's most powerful and significant works is the piano quintet in f minor op. 34.
In addition, Brahms wrote one trio with horn and one with clarinet, three piano quartets, quintet with clarinet and for the string composition - three quartets, two quintets And two sextets.
Only Brahms knew how to create vocal melodies so national in spirit and composition. This is not surprising: none of the contemporary German and Austrian composers studied the poetic and musical creativity of their people so closely and thoughtfully.
Brahms left several collections of arrangements of German folk songs (for voice and piano or choir, over a hundred songs in total). His spiritual testament was the collection forty-nine German folk songs (1894). Brahms never spoke so warmly about any of his own compositions. He wrote to friends: “Perhaps for the first time I treat with tenderness what came from my pen...”. “I have never created anything with such love, even infatuation.”
Brahms approached folklore creatively. He indignantly opposed those who interpreted the living heritage of folk art as archaic antiquity. He was equally concerned with songs from different times - old and new. Brahms was not interested in the historical authenticity of the tune, but in the expressiveness and integrity of the musical and poetic image. He was very sensitive not only to melodies, but also to lyrics, carefully looking for their best options. Having looked through many folklore collections, he selected what seemed to him artistically perfect, which could contribute to the education aesthetic tastes music lovers.
It was for home music playing that Brahms compiled his collection, calling it “German Folk Songs for Voice and Piano” (the collection consists of seven notebooks of seven songs each; in the last notebook, the songs are arranged for lead singer and choir). For many years he cherished the dream of publishing such a collection. He had previously arranged about half of the melodies included in it for the choir. Now Brahms set himself a different task: to emphasize and highlight the beauty of the vocal part with subtle touches in a simple piano accompaniment part (Balakirev and Rimsky-Korsakov did the same in their adaptations of Russian folk songs):
And he often took folk texts as the basis for his own vocal compositions, and was not limited to the field of German creativity: over twenty works of Slavic poetry inspired Brahms to create songs - solo, ensemble, choral (Among them are such gems of Brahms’s vocal lyrics as “On Eternal Love” op. 43 No. 1, “The Path to the Beloved” op. 48 No. 1, “Oath to the Beloved” op. 69 No. 4.). He also has songs based on Hungarian, Italian, and Scottish folk texts.
The range of poets reflected in Brahms's vocal lyrics is wide. The composer loved poetry and was a discerning connoisseur of it. But it is difficult to detect his sympathy for any one literary movement, although romantic poets predominate quantitatively. In the choice of texts main role It was not so much the individual style of the author that played a role, but rather the content of the poem, for Brahms was concerned with texts and images that were close to the people. He had a sharply negative attitude towards poetic abstractions, symbolism, and features of individualism in the work of a number of modern poets.
Brahms called his vocal compositions "songs" or "tunes" for voice with piano accompaniment (The only exception is “Romances from Magelona” by L. Tieck, op. 33 (the cycle contains fifteen pieces); these romances are close in nature to an aria or solo cantata.). With this name he wanted to emphasize the leading importance of the vocal part and the subordinate importance of the instrumental part. In this matter, he acted as a direct successor to Schubert's song traditions. Adherence to Schubertian traditions is also reflected in the fact that Brahms gives primacy to the song beginning over the declamatory one and prefers the strophic (verse) structure to the “through” one. A different stream of German chamber vocal music is represented in the works of Schumann and further developed by major masters of this genre - Robert Franz (German composer Robert Franz (1815-1892) is the author of approximately two hundred and fifty songs.) in Germany and Hugo Wolf in Austria. The fundamental differences are that Schubert and Brahms, relying on the peculiar manner of folk song, were more based on general content and mood of the poem, delved less deeply into its shades of both psychological and pictorial order, while Schumann, and even more to a greater extent Wolf strove in music to more clearly embody the consistent development of poetic images and expressive details of the text and therefore made wider use of declamatory moments. Accordingly, the proportion of instrumental accompaniment among them increased, and, for example, Wolf no longer called his vocal works not “songs”, but “poems” for voice and piano.
One should not, however, consider these two traditions as mutually exclusive: there are declamatory moments in Brahms (or Schubert), as well as song ones in Schumann. We are talking about the predominant meaning of one or another principle. Nevertheless, Grieg is right when he notes that Schumann is more poet, while Brahms - musician.
The first published book was marked with great originality. Brahms' romance "Loyalty in Love" op. 3 No. 1 (1853). There are many things here that are characteristic of the composer’s work, and above all the very philosophical themes (the image of broken, but faithful and persistent love). The general mood is aptly captured and imprinted in the “tired” accompaniment triplets to the measured sighs of the melody. Such a juxtaposition of different rhythms at the same time (duolis or quartos with triplets, etc.), along with syncopation, are Brahms’ favorite techniques:
Brahms said that by the placement of pauses one can distinguish a true master of vocal music from an amateur. Brahms himself was such a master: his manner of “pronouncing” a melody is distinct. Usually, already in the initial rhythmic intonation, as in an embryo, the thematic nature of the song is imprinted. Characteristic in this regard is the short motif that in the analyzed romance first passes through the bass, penetrating the voice part. In general, the subtle and sensitive conduct of the bass is typical of Brahms (“the bass gives the melody character, explains and completes it,” the composer taught). This also reflects his penchant for contrapuntal transformations of the theme.
Thanks to such techniques, a remarkable unity of expression of the vocal melody and piano accompaniment is achieved. This is also facilitated by a motivic connection, carried out through repetitions and echoes, free thematic development or duplication of the melody in the piano part. As examples we will name: “The Secret” op. 71 No. 3, “Death is a Bright Night” op. 96 No. 1, “How Melodies Attract Me” op. 105 No. 1, “Deeper is my slumber” op. 105 No. 2.
The named works belong to the quantitatively most significant, although unequal, group of Brahms's romances. For the most part, these are sad, but light-colored reflections - not so much excited monologues (he rarely succeeds in them), but intimate conversations on exciting life topics. Images of sad decline and death sometimes occupy too much of a place in such reflections, and then the music takes on a monotonous, gloomy flavor and loses its spontaneity of expression. However, even when addressing this topic, Brahms creates wonderful works. These are “Four Strict Tunes” op. 121 - his last chamber vocal composition (1896). It is a kind of solo cantata for bass and piano, which glorifies courage and perseverance in the face of death, an all-encompassing feeling of love. The composer addresses the “poor and suffering.” To convey exciting, deeply human content, he organically alternates the techniques of recitative, arioso, and song. The lyrical enlightened pages of the second and third plays are especially impressive.
A different sphere of images and, accordingly, different artistic means are characteristic of Brahms’s songs, sustained in the folk spirit. There are a lot of them too. In this group, two types of songs can be identified. For first Characteristic is an appeal to images of joy, courageous strength, fun, and humor. When transmitting these images, the features clearly appear German folk songs. In particular, the movement of the melody along the tones of the triad is used; the accompaniment has a chord structure. Examples include "Blacksmith" op. 19 No. 4, “Drummer’s Song” op. 69 No. 5, “Hunter” op. 95 No. 4, “The house stands in the green linden trees” op. 97 No. 4 and others.
Songs like these often give off even size; their movement is organized by the rhythm of a brisk step, sometimes a march. Similar images of fun and joy, but with a more personal, intimate coloring, appear in smooth three-quarter songs whose music is imbued with intonations and rhythms Austrian folk dances - ländler, waltz ( "Oh, sweet cheeks" op. 47 No. 4, “Oath to the Beloved” op. 69 No. 4, “Love Song” op. 71 No. 5). Brahms often presents these dance-genre images in an ingenuously simple way - sometimes with a touch of slyness, sometimes with hidden sadness. The warmest, heartfelt tones of Brahms' music are captured here. Its melody acquires flexible plasticity and that naturalness of development that is characteristic of folk tunes. These songs include (as a rule, they are written on folk texts, in particular Czech): "Sunday" op. 47 No. 3, “The Path to the Beloved” op. 48 No. 1, “Lullaby” op. 49 No. 4.
Vocal duets and quartets display various aspects of the content. But here too one can detect features characteristic of Brahms, both in philosophical lyrics, and in the lyrics of everyday life. The best examples of the latter are in op. 31 and in two notebooks "Songs of Love" op. 52 and 65(the composer called them “Waltzes for four voices and for piano four hands”; thirty-three pieces in total). Elements of song and dance are fused together in these charming miniatures, which form a parallel to Brahms' famous Hungarian Dances. Each play has its own laconic plot, telling about the joys and sorrows of love. The manner in which the vocal ensemble is developed is curious: the voices are either combined contrapuntally or contrasted in the form of a dialogue. By the way, the dialogical form was also used by Brahms in his solo songs.
Similar images are found in choral music: Along with vocal works with instrumental accompaniment, Brahms left many pieces for female or mixed a cappella choir. (For the male cast in total five choirs op. 41, conceived in the spirit of soldiers' songs with patriotic content). The most advanced in terms of depth of content and development are five songs for mixed choir op. 104. The collection opens with two nocturnes, combined common name"Night Watch"; their music is marked by subtle sound recording. Wonderful sound effects in the juxtaposition of upper and lower voices are used in the song " Last happiness"; a special modal coloring is inherent in the play “ Lost Youth"; stands out with its dark, gloomy colors last number - « in autumn».
Brahms also wrote a number of works for choir (some of them with the participation of a soloist) and orchestra. Their names are symptomatic, again reminiscent of the song flow in Brahms’s work: "Song of Fate" op. 54(text by F. Hölderlin), "Triumphal Song" op. 55, "Sorrowful Song" op. 82(text by F. Schiller), "Song of the Parks" op. 89(text by W. Goethe).
"German Requiem" op. 55 is the most significant work in this series.