Johannes Brahms
Violin Concerto
Joseph Joachim was one of the premiere violinists of the 19th century, and
was associated with many of the great musicians of his time. He studied with
Joseph Böhm and Miska Hauser, and when Joachim was twelve Felix Mendelssohn
took the boy under his wing and arranged for him to study composition with the
great violinist Ferdinand David. Joachim also served as concertmaster to the
Weimar orchestra under Franz Liszt. But it was his friendship with Johannes
Brahms that was the strongest throughout his life, both musically and
personally.
When Brahms met Joachim in 1853, both were just beginning their musical
careers. While Brahms was eager to find ways to achieve recognition away from
the shadow of Beethoven, he did not approve of the new music espoused by Liszt
and Robert Wagner. Brahms soon learned that Joachim shared his sympathies, and
together they wrote a letter to Liszt expressing their disapproval of such
music. Their letter, while not deterring Liszt, both cemented their friendship
and served to polarize musical debate in Europe for decades to come as a
struggle between the "Brahms" and "Wagner" camps. Meanwhile,
Brahms toured as Joachim's pianist in the 1860s, and the two kept up a frequent
correspondence.
In the summer of 1878, after the successful premiere of his second symphony,
Brahms returned to his favorite spot for composition, the town of Pörtsach on
the Worther-see (Lake Worther) in Austria. Here he began writing a violin
concerto for his friend. Brahms sent the solo violin part to Joachim to review,
asking him to make corrections "or perhaps mark the music: difficult,
awkward, impossible, etc." Joachim responded with enthusiasm and Brahms
took many of his suggestions. By the time the two premiered the work in Leipzig
on New Year's Day 1879, Brahms had also incorporated Joachim's fingerings,
bowings and first-movement cadenza.
Critical response was conflicting; one critic later recalled that the first
movement was too 'modern' for the audience, but that they appreciated the second
and third movements, while others did not care for any of it. But everyone
agreed that the violin part was extremely difficult . In later years, conductor
Hans von Bülow called it "a concerto against the violin," while
violinist Bronislaw Huberman described it as "a concerto for violin against
orchestra--and the violin wins!" Even Joachim, who did not really master
the piece until after performing it several times that year, acknowledged its
difficulty, saying "One enjoys getting hot fingers playing it, because it's
worth it!"
Brahms originally conceived of the piece in four movements, but later
discarded the fourth movement (keeping it for his second piano concerto, which
he was also working on at the time). It is still a large work, however, and as
Huberman notes, does set the violin and orchestra somewhat in opposition with
each other. The Allegro non troppo introduces the main D-major theme with an
extended opening orchestral section. The violin does not even take up the theme
until after some showy, flowing display over a timpani roll. The soloist then
introduces the more introspective second theme, in C-major. This movement, the
longest of the work, allows the soloist to display beautifully florid,
expressive lines, requiring consummate skill but never simply for the sake of
showing off. The soloist does take flight in a cadenza near the end.
The second movement, Adagio, opens with a beautiful solo line for oboe that
violinist Pablo Sarasate once complained required the soloist to "listen,
violin in hand, to how the oboe plays the only melody in the whole piece."
True enough, the soloist plays variations upon this line or reacts to it, rather
than repeating it. The lyrical F-major theme is contrasted with a more restive
F-sharp minor central section.
The finale, Allegro giocoso, features a sprightly double-stopped melody with
a gypsy-based rhythm. The 'Hungarian' style - quite popular in Brahms's time -
was most likely a tribute to Joachim's background, as he was born in what is now
Bratislava in the Czech Republic. The movement comes to an energetic close with
a long, dramatic coda shared between the orchestra and soloist.
And what of the friendship between Joachim and Brahms? It nearly came to an
end in 1881 when Joachim, a notoriously jealous husband, accused his wife,
mezzo-soprano Amalie Weiss, of adultery with his publisher. Brahms wrote Weiss
that he knew Joachim was being unreasonable, and when the letter was made public
during the couple's divorce, Joachim refused to speak to Brahms for six years.
But Brahms held out the olive branch by composing a double concerto for violin
and cello for his friend, and the two were reunited musically. Music had brought
them together, after all, and Brahms's music became their friendship's gift to
the world.
March 25, 2007
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