In this chapter we'll take a closer look at the music of Idealist composers. Idealists tended to see instrumental works as pure musical art to be appreciated for their creative technique and design. Others regarded instrumental music as innately spiritual and therefore linked to a higher realm; that is, a more evolved form of discourse than visual art and language. These composers often viewed themselves as the illuminati of culture. Beethoven commented on this matter:
“I must despise a world which does not know that music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.”
Romantic Idealist composers embraced an international style, mainly German Romanticism, and used generic titles—e.g., Sonata Op. 10 No. 9—and traditional forms of the Classical era. Absolute music often used tempo indications in lieu of titles for the movements of multi-movement works such as symphony, sonata and concerto. For example, Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E Minor Op. 64 exhibits typical absolute music title and movement monikers:
1. Allegro molto appassionato
2. Andante
3. Allegretto non troppo – Allegro molto vivace
We will examine absolute music from two of the nineteenth century's finest Idealist composers, Felix Mendelssohn and Johannes Brahms.
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) was a German composer, pianist and conductor. He was born in Hamburg, Germany, to a wealthy and prominent Jewish family, his father, Abraham Mendelssohn, a banker and his grandfather, Moses Mendelssohn, a respected Jewish philosopher. Nevertheless, Felix and his brother and two sisters were raised as Reformed (Calvinist) Christians.
Felix was a child musical prodigy as precocious as Mozart, and supported by his parents. He was a brilliant pianist and by thirteen had written concertos, sonatas symphonies and vocal works of quality and originality. His family was wealthy and hired an orchestra perform his works in their dining room. Felix was a talented painter and writer, and fluent in four languages. The Leipzig Conservatory, known now as the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig, was founded by Felix.
Like Brahms, Mendelssohn was a music history researcher and helped spark interest in the music of J.S. Bach by conducting the Saint Matthew Passion.
Mendelssohn, Elijah (p. 1) | Manuscript score, c. 1847 | Library of Congress
Mendelssohn had a stable, affluent and conventional life: happily married with children. He was a popular composer, conductor and soloist in Britain, and his tours inspired him to compose. His last England tour left him exhausted and, soon after, his sister Fanny died, leaving him in distress. Less than six months later, he passed away at the age of thirty-eight.
Compositional Style
Mendelssohn’s style is steeped in Classical influences of the eighteenth century, setting him apart from his progressive contemporaries such as Liszt and Berlioz. Mendelssohn was prolific (750 works) and wrote in all the major genres of the time save for opera. His best known works include Incidental Music for A Midsummer Night's Dream, Italian Symphony, Scottish Symphony, The Hebrides overture, Violin Concerto in E Minor Op. 64, and Songs Without Words for piano.
Fingal’s Cave, Island of Staffa, Scotland (1884) | Thomas Moran | The landscapes of Scotland inspired Mendelssohn | High Museum of Art
Violin Concerto in E Minor Op. 64
As is typical for concertos, Mendelssohn’s violin concerto uses a three-movement format and fast-slow-fast tempo scheme:
Allegro molto appassionato (E minor)
Andante (C major)
Allegretto non troppo – Allegro molto vivace (E major)
The entire work is about thirty minutes long. We'll listen to the first movement only. The slow and lyrical second movement and fast and brilliant third movement are on the video if you wish to enjoy the entire concerto.
The Allegro molto appassionato is in sonata form. The soloist presents the first theme at downbeat, forgoing the double exposition used in many concertos. Here's the first theme:
After the soloist blazes a volley of ascending scales, the first theme is announced in the orchestra. A frenzied transition passage by the soloist shifts tonality to G major and prepares the way for a tranquil second theme in the woodwinds:
A codetta closes the exposition and the two themes are worked over in the development, climaxing with a violin cadenza before the recapitulation. Mendelssohn wrote the cadenza rather than leaving it to the soloist to improvise.
Violin Concerto in E Minor Op. 64 | Felix Mendelssohn | First movement only, Allegro molto appassionato (E minor) 13:54.
Johannes Brahms
Like Mendelssohn, Johannes Brahms, 1833-1897, was a conservative composer, eschewing program music and drawing inspiration from the Classical era, especially Beethoven. Brahms was also a music history scholar and, thus, highly cognizant of the styles and masterworks that came before him.
Brahms' Lullaby(Guten Abend, gute Nacht) is often mistaken for a folk song:
Johannes Brahms was born to a poor but musical family in Hamburg, Germany. He began music studies at a young age, trained initially by his father, Johann Jakob, a bass violin player. At seven, he studied piano with a local pianist, Otto F.W. Cossel, 1813-1865. Cossel complained that "Brahms could be a great player if he would stop his never-ending composing."
By thirteen Johannes was studying music by day and supporting himself by playing in brothels after sundown. He was a successful local performer by his mid-teens, and composed piano solos, choral pieces and chamber music. Some pieces were published under a pen name, G.W. Marks: Brahms thought his early music wasn't good enough to use his real name. He destroyed many of these manuscripts later in life because he considered them below his artistic standards.
In 1853, after years of touring, twenty year old Brahms met the composer Robert Schumann. Schumann was impressed by Brahms' work and promoted his music in his Neue Zeitschrift für Musik magazine. The article lead to publication of Brahms' music under his own name. His career was now mainstream.
Years later, after Robert Schumann had a mental breakdown, Brahms moved in with Clara Schumann, a concert pianist and Robert's wife, for two years to help out. He called Clara “the most beautiful experience of my life.”
Brahms was self-critical and measured his musical efforts against earlier master composers such as Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven. Thus, it's not surprising his musical style and structure were influenced by Classical era traditions. Nevertheless, Romantic flavor is evident in his music: syncopations, irregular phrases, polyphonic textures, intensity of feeling and dense orchestrations.
“Since Haydn, a symphony is no longer a simple affair, but a matter of life and death.” ― Johannes Brahms
Brahms wrote in all major genres except opera. Up to age forty, he composed piano solos, art songs and chamber music but hid his symphonic writing. At age forty-three, after twenty years of toil, his first symphony appeared. It's often called “Beethoven's Tenth Symphony” due to obvious inspiration and similarities.
This symphony was written in 1883, six years after completion of his Second Symphony. Symphony No. 3 is scored for orchestra and has four movements:
Allegro con brio (F major), in sonata form
Andante (C major), in modified sonata form
Poco allegretto (C minor), in ternary form (A B A′)
Allegro – Un poco sostenuto (F minor/F major), in modified sonata form
Cyclic Technique
Brahms used a three note motive, F-A-F, to bind the movements together. Sharing of a motive or theme between movements is known as cyclic technique.
The F-A-F motive is said to symbolize “frei aber froh,” free but happy. Moreover, the first movement’s first theme is quoted near the end of the last movement.
We'll listen to the third movement, Poco allegretto. The third movement of a Classical symphony is usually a minuet and trio. While not indicated as a dance, this movement has ternary structure (A B A') like a minuet and trio and uses triple meter. Brahms reduced instrumentation, omitting some brass, low double reeds and timpani heard in the first and third movements.
The A section theme is cast in minor mode and filled with lilting lyrical melody:
The B section shifts to the major key and a graceful dance-like theme is introduced by the winds:
The strings reveal another distinctive melody before returning to the A' section and original theme:
Symphony No. 3 in F Major Op. 90 | III. Poco allegretto | Johannes Brahms
The alluring melody of the Poco allegretto has been arranged by Carlos Santana and Dave Matthews and renamed "Love of My Life."
During the second half of his career, Brahms was a wealthy and dominating figure in the music world. He never married and, despite wealth, lived simply in a modest apartment, adorned himself with funky clothing and grew a beard long enough for birds to nest in. He had a generous heart and gave large sums of money to help students and friends. In 1897, at the age of sixty-four, Brahms passed away after a long and full musical life. The Romantic era was ending and emerging styles were washing away the last vestiges of the nineteenth century.
Vocabulary
absolute music, Felix Mendelssohn, Violin Concerto in E Minor Op. 64, cyclic technique, Johannes Brahms
Germany
Compositional Style
Violin Concerto in E Minor Op. 64
Farewell to an Era
