Johannes Brahms

Johannes Brahms

Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...

' String Quintet No. 1 in F major

F major

F major is a musical major scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat . It is by far the oldest key signature with an accidental, predating the others by hundreds of years...

, Opus 88 was composed in 1882 in the spa town

Spa town

A spa town is a town situated around a mineral spa . Patrons resorted to spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. The word comes from the Belgian town Spa. In continental Europe a spa was known as a ville d'eau...

 of Bad Ischl

Bad Ischl

Bad Ischl is a spa town in Austria. It lies in the southern part of Upper Austria, at the Traun River in the centre of the Salzkammergut region. The town consists of the Katastralgemeinden Ahorn, Bad Ischl, Haiden, Jainzen, Kaltenbach, Lauffen, Lindau, Pfandl, Perneck, Reiterndorf and Rettenbach...

, Upper Austria

Upper Austria

Upper Austria is one of the nine states or Bundesländer of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders on Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as on the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg...

, and published by the firm of Fritz Simrock

Fritz Simrock

Friedrich August Simrock, better known as Fritz Simrock was a German music publisher who inherited a publishing firm from his grandfather Nicolaus Simrock...

. It was first performed at a chamber music evening in Frankfurt-on-Main on 29 December 1882.

It is a "Viola Quintet" in that it is scored for string quartet

String quartet

A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...

 with an extra viola

Viola

The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...

. It has three movements:

1. Allegro non troppo ma con brio: in sonata form
   Sonata form
   Sonata form is a large-scale musical structure used widely since the middle of the 18th century . While it is typically used in the first movement of multi-movement pieces, it is sometimes used in subsequent movements as well—particularly the final movement...
   
   . The first subject group is in F major, while the second is in A major
   A major
   A major is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps.Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor...
   
   , the first of the "pervasive mediant
   Mediant
   In music, the mediant is the third scale degree of the diatonic scale, being the note halfway between the tonic and the dominant. Similarly, the submediant is halfway between the tonic and subdominant...
   
    relationships" in this work.
2. Grave ed appassionato - Allegretto vivace - Tempo I - Presto - Tempo I: in double variation
   Double variation
   The double variation is a musical form used in classical music. It is a type of theme and variations that employs two themes. In a double variation set, a first theme is followed by a second theme , followed by a variation on A, then a variation on B, and so on with alternating A and B...
   
    form. The first theme is based on a sarabande
   Sarabande
   In music, the sarabande is a dance in triple metre. The second and third beats of each measure are often tied, giving the dance a distinctive rhythm of quarter notes and eighth notes in alternation...
   
    Brahms wrote in 1854, while the second theme is based on a gavotte
   Gavotte
   The gavotte originated as a French folk dance, taking its name from the Gavot people of the Pays de Gap region of Dauphiné, where the dance originated. It is notated in 4/4 or 2/2 time and is of moderate tempo...
   
    that he wrote in the same year. The movement starts in C-sharp major, and ends in A major
   A major
   A major is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps.Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor...
   
   , another mediant relationship.
3. Allegro energico - Presto: in a fusion of sonata and contrapuntal forms. The final key of the previous movement, A major, and the key of this movement, F major, represents another median relationship.

Despite the fact that this was one of Brahms' least popular chamber works, he described it to his friend Clara Schumann

Clara Schumann

Clara Schumann was a German musician and composer, considered one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era...

 as "one of my finest works", and told his publisher that "You have never before had such a beautiful work from me."

Media

String Quintet No. 1, Op. 88

External links

• Detailed listening Guide using the recording by the Amadeus Quartet with Aronowitz