Brahms Piano Sonata No.3, Op.5 (Caleb Hu)

Brahms' 3rd Sonata is a work incredibly rich in character, motivic development, subtext, and allusion. A veritable novel could be written about its myriad of underlying ideas (something that could be said about many a Brahms work) but I’ll try to stay within the description character limit in my analysis.

0:00 I. Allegro maestoso. Theme I (T1) leaps through the entire range of the keyboard, furious and foreboding. It introduces the terse, dotted figure that we’ll call Motive 1 (M.1)—the genesis of all major motivic material in the 1st mvt.
0:18 This sinister chorale theme is a direct evolution of M.1, which we’ll call M.1A. Also introduces M.2, which is the grim ostinato in the bass evoking the Fate motif from Beethoven’s 5th.
0:47 This introductory figure (M.3) is an homage to the opening of Schumann’s 3rd Piano Sonata, also written in Fm. M.1 comes back in the LH and inverted in the RH.
1:03 A heroic chorale evolving from M.1, which we’ll call M.1B. M.1 echoes in the bass.
1:45 T2. It is some form of genius that T2 evolves both from M.1B and is also an homage to the 2nd mvt of Beethoven’s Pathetique. It must be noted that the Pathetique itself quotes Mozart's 14th Sonata, so there is quite the lineage here.
2:23 T2 (closing material) evolves from M.1.
2:50 Expositional repeat.
5:38 M.3 becomes the cataclysmic opening of the development.
5:51 T1, in C# minor.
6:01 M.2 is intertwined with a duet of M.1As, with the LH being double the speed of the RH. Chopin’s Raindrop prelude?
6:33 This gorgeous passage (a cello solo) is, remarkably, a development of M.1.
7:41 M.1 cascades into an iteration of T1, this time evoking pure joy.
7:56 A moment of genius where M.1 outlines the Pathetique motive from T2 while the RH plays the syncopated texture from the cello solo.
8:16 M.2 ostinato, M.1 in bass.
8:35 The most menacing iteration of T1 yet, signaling the recapitulation. M.1A is inverted in the bass.
10:48 Coda. T1 in total triumph .
11:17 M.1 makes a final appearance, answering all the turbulence that it had been a part of with self-assured heroism.

11:44 II. Andante. This incredible mvt. symbolizes the blossoming relationship of two lovers (Clara?). This theme completes the Pathetique theme started in the 1st mvt.
14:28 B, ostensibly a duet between the two lovers. There is a call-and-response between the two voices.
17:35 A returns, in triplets.
20:02 C, a chorale recalling the cello solo from the 1st mvt. There is a transcendent stillness here and perfect unity between the two voices.
21:33 One of the greatest climaxes in all piano literature; almost Wagnerian in its obsessive passion. Probably something erotic here that I won’t get into.
22:25 Coda. Transformation of C.
23:04 Rückblick (remembrance) of the A sec.

23:58 III. Scherzo. The opening theme to the A sec. here is a triple allusion, paying homage to the last mvt of Mendelssohn’s 2nd Piano Trio, the scherzo of Schumann’s 3rd Sonata, and the scherzo of Beethoven’s 31st Sonata.
24:31 Fiendishly difficult. Faint echo of Motive 1C outlined by the right hand.
25:14 Trio. The bass line is a major version of the opening theme.
25:53 Fate (M.2).
27:13 A section repeat.

28:36 IV. Intermezzo…or a funeral march? Clara Schumann seems to think so, as this theme is quoted in her Bm Romance written after Robert’s death. The A section is a grim rückblick of the 2nd mvt., perhaps representing the death of one of the lovers. Fate (M.2) permeates this remorselessly dark movement.
29:32 B, development of A.
30:03 Funeral bells.
30:27 A returns with tremolos in the bass.

32:36 V. Finale. The finale is in rondo form, but like the 1st mvt. the majority of the material comes from the dotted opening motif (we’ll call it M.4). Homage to the scherzo of Schumann’s 3rd Sonata.
33:12 M.4 in the bass, with tricky runs in the RH. An identical run appears in Alkan’s Op.35 No.4, but it is not known whether Brahms was aware of that work.
33:30 B-section, the FAE theme adopted from Brahms’ friend Joseph Joachim, whose motto was Frei Aber Einsam (free but lonely). Almost identical to the intermezzo of Schumann’s 3rd Violin Sonata.
34:14 B closes with a transformation of M.4.
34:34 M.4 in major. Bells in the alto and tenor.
35:01 A's return.
35:59 A gorgeous chorale which we’ll call M.5. It's a transformation of the coda from the 2nd movement.
36:36 Canon on M.5.
36:53 Rückblick (4th mvt.) masquerading as a transformation of M.5; we also know it’s the 4th mvt. because of the fate motif in the LH.
37:07 Another canon on M.5.
38:18 One of the most fiendish passages ever written.
38:33 Intro to the coda, yet another canon on M.5.
38:48 Coda, growing out of M.5.
39:08 M.4.
39:22 Presto, again from M.5.
39:33 Con fuoco, M.5 in pure ecstasy.
39:56 Final celebratory canon on M.5.
40:02 A triumphant M.4. This passage is a variation on the coda seen in the 1st mvt.
40:21 Ends on an “Amen”.

Difficulty (8+). Recorded on my Samsung S23.

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