Brahms - Symphony No. 1 in C minor Op. 68 mvt. 4

Brahms and Bubbles program notes
Civic orchestra of Jacksonville Season 3 opener at St. John's Cathedral  October 7, 2018 

Conductor Marguerite Bradford Richardson
https://civicorchestrajax.org

Program Notes by Lucinda Mother, Th.D. 
What is a symphony? Classically, it is a large composition for a large orchestra--usually comprising four movements (pieces within the piece). Traditionally, the first movement is written in sonata form--which means it has two main themes that are developed according to a specific pattern. The second movement is usually slower and more lyrical. The third movement, often in triple meter (one-two-three; one-two-three) may be a stately minuet or a rollicking scherzo. The fourth, recalling the tempo of the first, may also be in sonata form, or it may be a rondo--or something else. IN any case, it brings the whole work to a big finish! Franz Josef Haydn is credited with solidifying the classical symphony as a genre; Mozart with using it brilliantly. Beethoven carried it into the Romantic era. His Symphony No. 5 is well-known for its "fate-motif"-- the "dot-dot-dot-dash" figure that dominates its opening movement. The Civic Orchestra has performed its delightful Finale several times. And then there is Beethoven's majestic Ninth Symphony, the fourth movement of which adds a choir to the corps of musicians, so that its central theme--the grand Ode to Joy-- may be sung as well as played. Beethoven's Ninth was majestic. For the next half-century, composers continued to write symphonies, but non matched Beethoven's profundity-- until Johannes Brahms unveiled his Symphony No. 1. 

Even as he solidified his reputation as a fine composer in many other genres, Brahms wrestled with his symphony-writing project for more than twenty years--determined as he was to create something that acknowledged the height to which Beethoven had taken the classic form and stood up to it. He succeeded! Premiered in 1876, Brahms' Symphony No. 1 has been celebrated every since as a masterpiece. Sometimes even acclaimed as Beethoven's Tenth, it is very much his own, unique offering. 
The first notes of the Finale recall the mood and tone with which the symphony opened. But an extended pizzicato section (that is, a section during which the stringed instruments are plucked rather than bowed) hints that something very different is coming. A horn fanfare (echoed by the woodwinds) accounts it. And then it arrives: a hymn-tune every bit as stately, glorious, and triumphant as Beethoven's Ode to Joy. begging to be sung, but (alas) having no words. These musical ideas are developed and intertwined, carrying us into a Granda coda and (perhaps) leaving us wishing we might hear that beautiful, nameless hymn-tune just once more!

Видео Brahms - Symphony No. 1 in C minor Op. 68 mvt. 4 канала Civic Orchestra of Jacksonville