Brahms Symphony no. 3
JOHANNES BRAHMS 1833-1897
SYMPHONY No. 3 IN F MAJOR OPUS 90
1. Allegro con brio
2. Andante
3. Poco allegretto
4. Allegro
The Third Symphony was first performed in Vienna, under Richter, in December 1881, at a time of some unhappiness for the composer, following the deaths of a number of close friends, and a temporary estrangement from the violinist Joachim. It is the shortest of the four symphonies, and perhaps the one that least readily yields up its secrets, as there are no obvious parallels with the tragedy of the First or the pastoral joy of the Second. Unusually, all four movements end either piano or pianissimo.
The work opens boldly with Brahms's emblematic motto theme of F-A-F (frei aber froh, 'free but joyful') but significantly the middle note is depressed to A flat, and there is an immediate conflict between this motto theme and the major third of the principal subject which follows in the third bar. The radiantly beautiful second subject is at first scored almost as if it were chamber music, and indeed much of the attraction of this movement as a whole is derived from the constantly varying density of the orchestral texture. The development section is very short, following which the beginning of the recapitulation is signalled by a remarkable transition from the remote key of E flat minor back to F major. There follows a marvellous coda, in which Brahms, as if to make up for the brevity of the development, releases the wealth of his imagination in a wonderful treatment of the first theme. The movement ends in a mood of calm reflection.
The andante opens with a quiet restful theme played by clarinets and bassoons, variations and continuations of which make up the substance of the movement in which, unusually, trombones are used but neither trumpets nor timpani have a place. On two occasions the mood is interrupted by sinister chords that are foreign to the key and unusual in both layout and rhythmic pattern. The modal ambiguity which characterises the whole symphony reappears in the shifting A's and A flats of the final bars of the movement, producing a cadence of haunting beauty.
A gentle, almost Schubertian melancholy overshadows the lightly scored poco allegretto, in which Brahms restricts his forces to strings, woodwind, and two horns. The middle section is rich in chromatic harmony to which syncopations add interest, and there are some beautiful passages of pure string writing.
The interval of the minor third holds the stormy finale in its grip almost throughout. It opens with an ominous theme for the strings and bassoons in sombre unison, which unfolds itself into a powerfully built symphonic movement organised around a succession of motifs. A striking event occurs in the form of an almost liturgically-sounding chorale, reaching
down to the depths of the orchestra with string basses, trombones and contrabassoon; an impressive passage that assumes even greater importance in the development.
The coda of this movement is full of excitement; first there is a transformation of the opening theme into a triplet version in the remote key of E minor on muted violas, then, after a transition to F major, the main theme is again transformed, but this time into longer time values, above which the oboe and horn reintroduce the motto in a slightly extended form (B flat-D flat-B flat A). Finally, the chorale theme makes its third appearance and is in turn overridden by the motto in its original form, while the strings extinguish themselves against a final disintegration of the main theme of the first movement over sustained major chords, a combination that has already been foreshadowed in the first movement itself. The closing pages have been described as having all the feeling of a beautiful, radiant sunset after a stormy day.
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