Serenades (Brahms)
The Serenade No. 1 in D major, Op 11 is the result of a thorough work by Johannes Brahms with Mozart's serenades and symphonies of Haydn. Their emergence time the end of the 1850s also fall largely into the phase to be in the Brahms arisen in a difficult creative process Piano Concerto No. 1 revised.
Genesis and first performance
Johannes Brahms worked from September 1857 to the year 1859 each September to December at the Detmold Fürstenhof as a concert pianist, conductor of Hofchores and piano teacher of Princess Friederike. There he studied symphonies by Joseph Haydn and was send by his friend Joseph Joachim scores of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's serenades. After a handwritten catalog of works by Brahms 1st Serenade " 1857-8 " was born. In September 1858, he played in Göttingen friends Clara Schumann, Julius Otto Grimm and Joseph Joachim, a first preliminary version before, the first four sets encompassed ( structurally the later sets 1 to 4, however, only partially accordingly). In the six-movement form Joachim carried out the work on March 28, 1859 in Hamburg premiered. As a former cast a nonet ( a flute, two clarinets, a horn, a bassoon and strings) could be determined (no octet, like previous biographers, such as Max Kalbeck, accept ).
In December 1859, Brahms asked Joachim note paper with the intention to " transform into a symphony " the work. The orchestration was carried out until end of January 1860. However, the autograph shows that Brahms at the beginning orchestrating the work with "Serenade" titled, then the prefix " Symphony " added, but these underlined again in February 1860. The premiere of the definitive final version took place on March 3, 1860 at the Royal Court Theatre Hannover, again under the direction of Joseph Joachim. In the same year the work was published by the publisher Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig in pressure. The composition continued in the following years, however, by only hesitantly.
Instrumentation
The score includes the following cast before: two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, timpani and strings.
Structure and characteristics
The performance period of the six-movement, characterized by cheerful mood work is about 45 minutes. Proportions - the first three movements take a good 30 minutes the following three less than 15 minutes - and compositional working through with in the first few sentences sometimes quite symphonic trains, while the rates are 4 to 6 rather serenade typically applied leave, nor the Brahms temporarily planned symphony composition guessed.
- I. Allegro molto. The standing in D Major 1st theme of the sonata form following theorem is related to the final theme of the 104th symphony by Joseph Haydn. The implementation shows for Brahms typical syncopation and triplet formation.
- Scherzo, Allegro non troppo. As a da capo form ( Scherzo with Trio) created. The unison struck up main theme is in D minor and similar to that of the scherzo in Brahms ' Piano Concerto No. 2 later.
- III. Adagio non troppo. Large-scale sonata form ( 250 cycles ), the main theme of the very vocal set at the same time elaborate thematic work is in B- flat major.
- IV Menuetto. Da capo form with Menuetto I ( G major ) and Menuetto II ( G minor ). In his chamber music Instrumentation and thematic formation of this set is heavily based on classical models.
- V. Scherzo, Allegro. Da capo form ( Scherzo with Trio) with Beethoven's notes, the first theme in D major is intoned by the horns.
- VI. Rondo, Allegro. Rondo form in the sequence A-B- A'- C- B'- A''. The march -like - moving main theme is in D major.
Reconstruction and reception
The Argentinian conductor and composer Jorge Rotter published in 1987, " a speculative reconstruction of the lost original cast for Nonet " ( 1.0.2.1 - 1.0.0.0 - strings: 1.0.1.1.1 ). To this end, the composer wrote Horst Lohse Four comments and interlude ( Brahms Reflections, premiered in 1989 in Leverkusen in combination with Brahms ' Serenade ).
Other chamber music versions created Alan Boustead (1987, for Nonet: 1.0.2.1 - 1.0.0.0 - strings: 1.0.1.1.1 ) and Chris Nex ( for Dezett: 1.1.1.1 - 1.0.0.0 - strings: 1.1.1.1.1 ).