Double Concerto (Brahms) Explained

Double Concerto
Composer:	Johannes Brahms
Image Upright:	1.2
Key:	A minor
Opus:	102
Movements:	three

The Double Concerto in A minor, Op. 102, by Johannes Brahms is a concerto for violin, cello and orchestra, composed in 1887 as his last work for orchestra.

Origin of the work

The Double Concerto was Brahms' final work for orchestra. It was composed in the summer of 1887, and first performed on 18 October of that year in the in Cologne, Germany.^[1] Brahms approached the project with anxiety over writing for instruments that were not his own.^[2] He wrote it for the cellist Robert Hausmann, a frequent chamber music collaborator,^[3] and his old but estranged friend, the violinist Joseph Joachim. The concerto was, in part, a gesture of reconciliation towards Joachim, after their long friendship had ruptured following Joachim's divorce from his wife Amalie.^{[4] [5]} (Brahms had sided with Amalie in the dispute.)

The concerto makes use of the musical motif A–E–F, a permutation of F–A–E, which stood for a personal motto of Joachim, Frei aber einsam ("free but lonely").^[6] Thirty-four years earlier, Brahms had been involved in a collaborative work using the F-A-E motif in tribute to Joachim: the F-A-E Sonata of 1853.

Structure

The composition consists of three movements in the fast–slow–fast pattern typical of classical instrumental concerti:

Scoring

The orchestra consists of 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani and strings.

Performance and reception

Joachim and Hausmann performed the concerto, with Brahms at the podium, several times in its initial 1887–88 season, and Brahms gave the manuscript to Joachim, with the inscription "To him for whom it was written." Clara Schumann reacted unfavourably to the concerto, considering the work "not brilliant for the instruments".^[7] Richard Specht also thought critically of the concerto, describing it as "one of Brahms' most inapproachable and joyless compositions". Brahms had sketched a second concerto for violin and cello but destroyed his notes in the wake of its cold reception. Later critics have warmed to it: Donald Tovey wrote of the concerto as having "vast and sweeping humour".^[8] Its performance requires two brilliant and equally matched soloists.

Scholarly discussion

Richard Cohn has included the first movement of this concerto in his discussions of triadic progressions from a Neo-Riemannian perspective.^[9] Cohn has also analysed such progressions mathematically.^[10] Cohn notes several progressions that divide the octave equally into three parts, and which can be analyzed using the triadic transformations proposed by Hugo Riemann.

Discography

• Jacques Thibaud and Pablo Casals, Orquestra Pau Casals Alfred Cortot (1929).^[11]
• Jascha Heifetz and Emanuel Feuermann, Philadelphia Orchestra Eugene Ormandy (1939).^[12]
• Mischa Mischakoff and Frank Miller, NBC Symphony Orchestra Arturo Toscanini (live radio and TV broadcast 1948).
• Adolf Busch and Herman Busch, French National Radio Orchestra Paul Kletzki (live Strasbourg 1949).^[13]
• Georg Kulenkampff and Enrico Mainardi, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande Carl Schuricht (1947).^[14]
• Willi Boskovsky and Emanuel Brabec,^[15] Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Wilhelm Furtwängler (1950 live recording).^[16]
• Nathan Milstein and Gregor Piatigorsky, Philadelphia Robin Hood Dell Orchestra Fritz Reiner (1951).^[17]
• Jean Fournier and Antonio Janigro,^[18] Vienna State Opera Orchestra Hermann Scherchen (1952).^[19]
• Gioconda de Vito and Amadeo Baldovino,^[20] Philharmonia Orchestra Rudolf Schwarz (1952).^[21]
• David Oistrakh and Pierre Fournier, Philharmonia Orchestra Alceo Galliera (1956).^[22]
• Isaac Stern and Leonard Rose, Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of New York Bruno Walter (1956).^[23]
• Zino Francescatti and Samuel Mayes,^[24] Boston Symphony Orchestra Charles Munch (April 1956 live recording).^[25]
• Zino Francescatti and Pierre Fournier, Columbia Symphony Orchestra Bruno Walter (1960).^[26]
• Zino Francescatti and Pierre Fournier, BBC Symphony Orchestra Sir Malcolm Sargent (date of recording: 30/08/1955).^[27]
• Wolfgang Schneiderhan and Enrico Mainardi,^[28] Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Karl Böhm (date of recording: 08/25/1957).^[29]
• Jascha Heifetz and Gregor Piatigorsky, RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra Alfred Wallenstein (1961).^[30]
• Salvatore Accardo and Siegfried Palm,^[31] Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma della RTV Italiana cond Bruno Maderna (live 1961 Milan).^[32]
• Wolfgang Schneiderhan and János Starker, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra Ferenc Fricsay (1962).^[33]
• Alfredo Campoli and André Navarra, Hallé Orchestra John Barbirolli (1963).^[34]
• Josef Suk and André Navarra, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra Karel Ančerl (c.1963).^[35]
• David Oistrakh and Mstislav Rostropovich, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra Kirill Kondrashin (live 1963).^[36]
• David Oistrakh and Mstislav Rostropovich, Cleveland Orchestra George Szell (1970).^[37]
• Christian Ferras and Paul Tortelier, Philharmonia Orchestra Paul Kletzki (1964).^[38]
• Yehudi Menuhin and Maurice Gendron, London Symphony Orchestra István Kertész (Bath Festival 1964).^[39]
• Yehudi Menuhin and Leslie Parnas,^[40] Casals Festival Orchestra Pablo Casals (1969).^[41]
• Henryk Szeryng and János Starker, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Bernard Haitink (1971).^[42]
• Yan Pascal Tortelier and Paul Tortelier, BBC Symphony Orchestra John Pritchard (1974).^[43]
• Salvatore Accardo and Heinrich Schiff, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig Kurt Masur (1979)^[44]
• Itzhak Perlman and Mstislav Rostropovich, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink (1980).^[45]
• Anne-Sophie Mutter and Antônio Meneses, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Herbert von Karajan (1983).^[46]
• Emmy Verhey and János Starker, Amsterdam Philharmonic Orchestra (nl) Arpad Joó (1983).^[47]
• Gidon Kremer and Mischa Maisky, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Leonard Bernstein (1984).^[48]
• Yehudi Menuhin and Paul Tortelier, London Philharmonic Orchestra Paavo Berglund (1984).^[49]
• Isaac Stern and Yo-Yo Ma, Chicago Symphony Orchestra Claudio Abbado (1988).^[50]
• Raphael Wallfisch and Lydia Mordkovitch (violin), London Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi. Label Chandos (1989).
• Ilya Kaler and Maria Kliegel, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland Andrew Constantine (1995).
• Gidon Kremer and, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Nikolaus Harnoncourt (1997).^[51]
• Itzhak Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma, Chicago Symphony Orchestra Daniel Barenboim (1997).^[52]
• Gil Shaham and Jian Wang, Berliner Philharmoniker Claudio Abbado (2002).^[53]
• Julia Fischer and Daniel Müller-Schott, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra Yakov Kreizberg (2007).^[54]
• Renaud Capuçon and Gautier Capuçon, Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester Myung-Whun Chung (2007).^[55]
• Vadim Repin and Truls Mørk, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra Riccardo Chailly (2009).^[56]
• Antje Weithaas and Maximilian Hornung, NDR Radiophilharmonie Andrew Manze (2019).^[57]

External links

• • • • Adaptation of the work as a Cello Concerto
• Web site: Classical Notes - Johannes Brahms Double Concerto. Gutmann. Peter. Classicalnotes.net. 2010.
• Web site: Program Notes - Andrews University Symphony Orchestra, Schubert & Brahms, January 27, 2007. Mack. Linda. Andrews University Sinfionetta. 2007.

Notes and References

1. https://web.archive.org/web/20110721192202/http://www.cheltenhamsymphonyorchestra.info/prognotes.htm Cheltenham Symphony Orchestra: program notes
2. He disguised his reservations with joyless joking in his letter to Clara Schumann: "...I have had the amusing idea of writing a concerto for violin and cello. If it is at all successful it might give us some fun. You can well imagine the sort of pranks one might play in such a case," he wrote, adding "I ought to have handed on the idea to some who knows the violin better than I do." Litzmann, Schumann/Brahms Letters 8/1887, quoted by Jan Swafford, Johannes Brahms: a biography 1997:539.
3. For Hausmann he had written the Second Cello Sonata the previous summer.
4. "This concerto is a work of reconciliation— Joachim and Brahms have spoken to each other again for the first time in years", Clara Schumann noted in her journal after a rehearsal in Baden-Baden in September 1887.
5. Schwartz . Boris . Joseph Joachim and the Genesis of Brahms's Violin Concerto . The Musical Quarterly . LXIX . 4 . 503–526 . Autumn 1983 . 10.1093/mq/LXIX.4.503.
6. Musgrave . Michael . Brahms's First Symphony: Thematic Coherence and Its Secret Origin . Music Analysis . 2 . 2 . 117–133 . July 1983 . 10.2307/854245 . Music Analysis, Vol. 2, No. 2 . 0262-5245 . 854245.
7. Wollenberg . Susan . Reviews of Books: Beiträge zur Geschichte des Konzerts: Festschrift Siegfried Kross zum 60. Geburtstag (eds. Reinmar Emans and Matthias Wendt . Music & Letters . 74 . 1 . 77–81 . February 1993 . 10.1093/ml/74.1.77 . 0027-4224 . 735204.
8. Stein . George P. . The Arts: Being through Meaning . Journal of Aesthetic Education . 5 . 4 . 99–113 . October 1971 . 10.2307/3331623 . Journal of Aesthetic Education, Vol. 5, No. 4 . 0021-8510 . 3331623.
9. Cohn . Richard . Maximally Smooth Cycles, Hexatonic Systems, and the Analysis of Late-Romantic Triadic Progressions . Music Analysis . 15 . 1 . 9–40 . March 1996 . 10.2307/854168 . Music Analysis, Vol. 15, No. 1 . 0262-5245 . 854168.
10. Cohn . Richard . Neo-Riemannian Operations, Parsimonious Trichords, and Their Tonnetz Representations . Journal of Musical Theory . 41 . 1 . 1–66 . Spring 1997 . Journal of Music Theory, Vol. 41, No. 1 . 0022-2909 . 843761.
11. HMV DB1311-1314/Victor V-8208-8211.
12. HMV/Victor 78rpm:Naxos CD
13. Music and Arts MACD 108
14. Decca 78rpm AK2025-2028: Archipel CD ARPCD 0301
15. Cellist of the Barylli Quartet, Brabec was teacher of Nikolaus Harnoncourt at Vienna.
16. Dynamic IDIS Hist. CD IDI 6554
17. Naxos CD 8.111051
18. Fournier and Janigro played together with Paul Badura-Skoda in a trio ensemble.
19. Westminster LP WLP 5117.
20. Student of Camillo Oblach's at the G.B. Martini School of Music, Bologna, Baldovino was cellist with the Trio Italiano d'Archi and the Trio di Trieste: see http://www.answers.com/topic/amadeo-baldovino here.
21. HMV BLP 1028
22. HMV/EMI SXLP 30185.
23. Philips LP ABL 3139/3289.
24. Web site: Samuel H. Mayes . 2009-08-23 . 2016-03-03 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160303231122/http://www.cello.org/heaven/bios/mayes.htm . dead .
25. Music and Arts, West Hill Radio Archive WHRA 6017.
26. Columbia ML 5493.
27. BBC CD L4149 2.
28. Schneiderhan succeeded Georg Kulenkampff as violin in the trio ensemble with Mainardi and Edwin Fischer after Kulenkampff died.
29. Orfeo CD C 359941B.
30. RCA LD(S)2513
31. Palm was a pupil of Mainardi's, and a President of the European String Teachers' Association: see interview http://www.cello.org/Newsletter/Articles/palm.htm here.
32. Movimento Musica srl Milano (WEA Italiana) 01.017 33/30 DP
33. DG 139126
34. Vanguard SRV-136 SD.
35. Supraphon LP SUA ST 50573.
36. BBC CD L41972
37. HMV ASD 3312
38. Testament CD SBT 1337.
39. BBC CD L4252 2
40. http://www.answers.com/topic/leslie-parnas Leslie Parnas
41. Doremi CD DHR 7844
42. Philips 6500 137
43. BBC CD L42362.
44. Philips 9500 623.
45. HMV ASD 3905; EMI CDC 7 49486 2.
46. DG 410 603-1.
47. SEFD 5023 (Sefel Records)
48. DG 410 031-1; DGG DVD 000983409.
49. EMI EG 27 0268 1.
50. CBS Masterworks Mk 42387.
51. Teldec – 0630-13137-2.
52. Teldec 0630-15870-2.
53. CD DG 4695292.
54. PTC 5186 066 (PentaTone Classics).
55. Virgin Classics 00946 395147 2 4.
56. CD DG 4777470.
57. cpo 555 172-2.