Utah Symphony

By Jeff Counts

THE COMPOSER – JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897) – Brahms spent the greater part of the 1850s building his first orchestral masterpiece, the D Minor Piano Concerto, out of material meant for other works. The time between the first sketches in 1854 and the premiere performance of 1859 encompassed a lifetime of intense personal experiences for Brahms, most of which revolved around his special (and complicated) relationship with Robert and Clara Schumann.

THE MUSIC – The 20-year-old Brahms had made quite an impression on Robert Schumann in 1853. Schumann, in his oft-quoted article from that year entitled “New Paths,” spoke of the younger man in almost messianic terms. Brahms was, for Schumann, the fulfillment of a prophecy (his own, admittedly) in which a new artistic voice would appear suddenly and fully formed as if from the mind of a god to “express the ideal form and spirit of his time.” As the friendship between Brahms and the Schumanns developed in complex ways – Robert soon lost his mental stability and died in 1856 while Clara became the object of an enduring romantic affection – Brahms was sorting the ingredients of his D Minor Concerto. Unlike himself, it would not spring “fully formed” from the mind. This concerto was a result of patient deliberation and reassignment. Brahms to this point was reluctant to tackle the symphony form and was frightened enough of Beethoven’s ghost that he shied away from orchestral music altogether. He had heard Beethoven’s 9th for the first time in 1854 and this experience likely put to rest any symphonic thoughts of his own. Instead, he poured his ideas into a sonata for two pianos but felt increasingly stifled by the limits of this instrumentation. There was a nagging question of grandeur that only an orchestra could answer and after a year of helpful commentary from his friend Joseph Joachim, the brilliant “symphony with solo piano” was born.         

THE WORLD – Excavation of the Suez Canal began in 1859. Charles Darwin published his shocking scientific work On the Origin of Species and Alfred Lord Tennyson released the first portion of his Arthurian epic The Idylls of the King.

THE CONNECTION – Brahms’ 1st Piano Concerto is a popular work on Utah Symphony Masterworks seasons. The most recent performance was in 2009 under the baton of Pinchas Zukerman with Jonathan Biss as soloist.

Instrumentation: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, strings.

Duration: 45 minutes in four movements.

THE COMPOSER – JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897) – In a historical field so thick with prodigy lore, Brahms took a surprisingly long time to compose his first symphony. Mozart and Mendelssohn did it before their teens, Haydn and Schumann in their twenties. Brahms, however, was 43 in 1876 when his opus 68 finally had its premiere. The fact that he had been pondering the symphony genre since as far back as 1854 speaks to how seriously he considered this step.

THE MUSIC – The symphony form was, for Brahms, the ultimate test of any composer’s abilities and the principle material from which their legacy should be divined. Even at twenty, he was well aware of the grand Austro-Germanic symphonic tradition that had been brought to full bloom under Beethoven and that the titan’s successor had not yet been named. Brahms’ earliest attempt followed a somewhat diagonal trajectory and became First Piano Concerto rather than the First Symphony but the influence of Beethoven could be heard throughout. It is true that Beethoven’s formidable shadow stalked Brahms always, causing him to shy away from the genre (and purely orchestral works in general for a time). Just before he finally produced a pair of string quartets (the other critical compositional litmus) Brahms said that he would never write a symphony, claiming he could hear the “giant marching behind him.” It was as if the conquering of the string quartet constituted the only time he intended to stare down the master’s ghost, as if he only had enough strength to do that deed once. Not so, thankfully. Brahms had sent some sketches to Clara Schumann back in 1862 that indicated quite clearly he was ready to make his own statement as a symphonist. She recognized then a new boldness in Brahms’ voice and even though it would require another decade to fully incubate, it would eventually grow into his grand and “rather strong” masterpiece, the Symphony No. 1.

THE WORLD – Spain’s Third Carlist War ended in 1876, which was also the year Queen Victoria took the title “Empress of India.” Back in the United States, the country celebrated its centennial and founded baseball’s National League.

THE CONNECTION – Brahms 1 gets programmed regularly on the Utah Symphony’s Masterworks series. The most recent performances occurred in February of 2009 under Jean-Claude Casadesus.