1 gen 1876 anni - First Symphony

Descrizione:

In 1876 Brahms offered a real challenge to Wagner with his Symphony No. 1. Wagner saw Brahms as a threat. The symphony follows the harmonic structure of Schubert’s Wanderer Fantasy (circle of major thirds). By casting the symphony in C minor, Brahms invited comparison with Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. The First Symphony incorporates allusions to multiple composers and is full of symbolism—but without a program by which to decipher the symbols. Instead of the traditional use of themes, Brahms overlays motives in ever-varying contrapuntal textures.

Victory Through Critique
1. Wagner and his circle saw Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony as the work that essentially said universal music had to include text to be complete.
2. Brahms challenged this assumption in his First Symphony.
a. At about the same point as in Beethoven’s Ninth finale, the tempo changes and we are presented with the movement’s main theme.
1) This theme evokes a hymn, similar to the “Ode to Joy.”
2) By invoking the “Ode to Joy,” Brahms issues a challenge: to do all that Beethoven did with words, without using words. He thus makes the ultimate claim for instrumental music.
3. More similarities can be drawn between the final movements of Brahms’s First and Beethoven’s Ninth, particularly in how the form seems to change from one type to another.

Reconciliation and Backlash
1. Hans von Bülow, an ardent member of the New German School, conductor of
Wagner’s operas, and a well-respected pianist, was moved to hail Brahms’s First Symphony
“Beethoven’s Tenth Symphony” in print.
2. After the success of his first symphony, Brahms composed three more in less than ten
years.

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