Piano Quintet, Op. 34a, Movement 4 - Piano Score

Piano Quintet (Brahms)

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As expected, it shifts up a half-step and turns to G major. But after the first piano arpeggio, the viola inserts a buzzing repeated octave on F-sharp. The second arpeggio moves back down to F-sharp instead of remaining on G. But after this, the buzzing viola octave follows its sequence and moves down another half-step to F. This prepares the motion back to the home key of F minor. The first two measures establish F minor, the long-absent home key.

The opening part of the theme is replaced by a new, but similar passage for strings alone. In contrast to the jerky melody and its long-short rhythms, the passage is smooth and almost mysterious. The expansion from the third measure returns to the original material, but the soaring line is played by the piano in octaves instead of strings. The violins and viola the latter holding a long note play the original harmonies of the piano right hand. The cello continues its pulsing anchor, moving briefly to F before the expected downward motion to E-flat.

In this case, the piano continues its own rising line rather than taking over from the violins. The broken octaves in the piano bass and the plucked cello notes are mostly as before. The key touches this time on D-flat before the soaring line and full cadence in F minor. The repetition of this soaring line and cadence is again given to the viola. The piano is slightly more urgent here than it was before, but the plucked cello remains the main propulsive force.

The scoring is mostly as it was in the exposition, except that the viola replaces the second violin on the pulsating triplets under the cadence. The first two measures are scored as in the exposition, but the expanded violin cadence is changed to include all instruments and begin the buildup earlier. Brahms changes the key signature to F major here, earlier than in the exposition. Both violins play the leading line in octaves. The trailing line formerly taken by the second violin is in the piano right hand, also in octaves.

The pulsations that had been played by the piano are now in the viola and also in octaves. The cello harmonizes the piano bass above. The first two measures have the most changes in scoring. The first statement had been played by second violin. It is now played by the piano right hand, continuing its replacement of the second violin in the previous passage. The second violin and viola, then, take over the passionate arpeggios, replacing parts of them with tremolos.

The first violin holds its high note from the previous passage, which it did not do before. From the point where the first violin took over the expressive statement from before, the scoring is similar to what it was. The first violin plays the second statement again, and the piano returns to the dramatic arpeggios. At the climax, the first violin is doubled an octave lower by the viola, making the buildup even more intense. The piano bass focuses more on the low octaves. The last cello notes approaching the cadence are slightly altered in contour.

The downward slide is played by the piano bass and the cello. From that point, the strings and piano reverse roles from the exposition. The arching arpeggios are played by the piano, as are the martial dotted rhythms. The strings hold long notes. The descending echoes that were played by the piano before are taken by the strings without viola.

The slide down to the leading tone is played by cello and viola doubling the piano bass. From there, the role reversal from the closing theme in the exposition continues. The piano plays the outward arching arpeggios again, reaching higher, along with the marching dotted rhythm. The first echo is played by the strings, and the extra second echo, the expansion, is played by the piano.

The harmonized descending groups of three-note patterns in straight rhythm, obscuring the bar line and building in volume, continue in an exact role reversal from the exposition. The strings play the first group of three patterns, the piano the second, and the strings join the piano on the third thus causing the scoring to match the exposition at the end of this third group. The lengthened descents begin with the same scoring as in the exposition. The repetition an octave lower is thinned out by removing the second violin and viola. There is no full F-major cadence here, as the weak-beat pulses that closed the exposition are omitted.

Instead of a cadence, the coda immediately begins with this material, building on the three-note descents. The piano, in the tenor range with bass support, echoes the last first violin descent.

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From that point, an intricate web of imitation between piano and strings follows on the three-note descents, with the top line of each gradually moving up by step. There is a steady buildup. After three such exchanges, a climax is reached, the top lines stall on F and the imitative motion becomes more continuous, adding a downbeat before each descent. The cello breaks from the continuous string harmonies and plucks broken octave descents on F. Three of these more continuous imitations then follow.

It still leaps down while the second violin, viola, and piano right hand mostly move up by step or leap. The piano bass arrives on a very low F and plays slow, rising broken octaves, supported by the now static plucked cello notes also on its low F. The two-beat phrases steadily move down in the first violin, and half-steps are again emphasized. The tension steadily abates. The second violin begins to imitate the first, but deviates quickly, adding characteristic syncopation. The two violins emerge into a contrary motion, with the first floating upward. The second violin and viola hold the harmonies.

The statement is extended by two measures, lingering on the contrary motion, which changes direction and which the middle strings join. The cello finally lands on its low F and holds it. The piano bass subtly drops out, and the strings hold notes over a bar line, extending the statement by another measure. The strings reach a delayed, unstable, incomplete, and chromatically-tinged cadence on B-flat.

From here, the piano is absent for a time. The cello slowly emerges into syncopated Theme 1 material, and all instruments gradually move back toward F minor, slowly abandoning the major key. The cello repeats its last gesture, which is clearly recognizable as the opening figure of Theme 1. The other strings become detached on their off-beat chords. The descending line from Theme 1, beginning with an upbeat, takes over.

After the cello lead-in, the piano enters with the hands playing in unison with the cello and an octave apart.

Brahms indicates a steady acceleration here. The piano takes over from the cello.

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It accommodates the acceleration by speeding up to a triplet rhythm, still in octaves. The other strings, including the cello, play upbeat figures leading into strong beats and emphasizing them. The piano triplets begin to arch, working steadily upward and increasing in intensity and speed. This leads directly into the main tempo and the passionate arpeggios, at which point Brahms finally changes the key signature back to the four flats of F minor.

The passionate piano arpeggios from 0: The string chords still use much half-step motion, although the heavy emphasis on major harmonies makes the passage more triumphant than tragic. The fourth measure works decisively back to F minor. The piano moves from the fast arpeggios to a version of the slower ones that were heard under the string statement of the theme which usually followed the fast arpeggios.

The strings now take the fast arpeggios, passing them back and forth from first violin and viola to second violin and cello. The slower piano arpeggios move steadily downward to another big F-minor arrival. The scoring of the three-measure pattern is then reversed. The piano takes back the fast arpeggios, leaping from the high to the low register with both hands in octaves to approximate the previous string interplay. The violins and cello play the slower arpeggios here while the viola adds rapid repeated notes to solidify the harmonies.

A third huge arrival on F minor follows as expected. All four string instruments join in unison octaves, still on the slow arpeggios. The piano breaks from the fast arpeggios and plays longer, heavy chords that leap back and forth, low to high. Its bass emphasizes a low octave F. The harmonies create an extended cadence on F minor, but not a typical one. After two measures, the piano plays three grand F-minor chords under the continuing slow string arpeggios.

The strings stop and join the piano on the last of these highly dramatic final chords. The piano right hand, playing espressivo and sotto voce in the tenor register, presents the main theme. Its principal gesture, an upward skipping short-long rhythm that is followed, after the long note is sustained a beat, by a distinctive short-short-long pattern, remains almost constantly present.

The same is true for the harmonization in thirds or sixths. The first violin and viola, in octaves, play a halting accompaniment whose distinctive gestures include notes on the second halves of all three beats in the measure and the beginning of the second beat. The piano bass plays with them, but reverses the direction of the gestures. The cello adds plucked notes on the downbeats. The first two measures are identical. The third moves down toward the half-close, and the fourth establishes a cadence measure pattern by changing the short-long rhythm on the downbeat, in this case reversing it to long-short.

The second measure of the phrase adds notes from the minor key. The third and fourth measures blossom into a new arching approach to the half-close. The next phrase begins with the minor-key inflection, emphasizing it by omitting the short-long rhythm in the first measure.

The phrase intensifies in both volume and harmony, and moves strongly toward C minor not the initially suggested A-flat minor. The last measure of the phrase actually reaches a half-close in C minor, emphasized by the first forte marking. The second violin makes its first entrance here, joining the viola and cello in plucked off-beat chords.

The first violin plays at the top of these, but retains the bow 1: The viola again bows the accompaniment patterns with the first violin, and the second violin rests again. But the music already deviates and intensifies before the second measure. As in the preceding phrase, the last measure reaches a new key, this time D-flat major, and with a strong full cadence rather than a weaker half-close.

Again, the second violin joins the viola and cello in rich plucked chords under the high, bowed first violin. As before, the beginning recedes back to the quiet level. The first measures resemble the second phrase of Part 1, but without the change in contour of the short-short-long patterns. The previous patterns are followed, but the cello has gradually moved away from the downbeats.

The harmonic motion is even more adventurous here, but the volume remains quiet. The A-flat-minor inflections are used to pivot to its related major key, C-flat. The third measure adds a second skipping figure, and the fourth adds a very expressive piano turn at the half-close in C-flat. The two-measure extension also emphasizes the skipping short-long figure, and quickly moves back home to A-flat major.

The piano speeds up toward long-delayed full cadence. The greatly anticipated cadence is embellished with an expressive downward resolution an appoggiatura. This leads into the closing material. It is extremely warm and beautiful. The piano is still in the tenor range, still playing mostly in thirds and sixths. The appoggiatura lends itself as a defining feature. The left hand and strings play off the beat, the former in low octaves. The second violin, which has only played at the louder cadences with plucked viola and cello, is still absent.

The last two measures of the first phrase accelerate slightly and add colorful chromatic inflections. The piano bass and plucked cello become more active. Another yearning turn figure, leading into a triplet rhythm, concludes the phrase and leads into the next one. The two violins, the second playing with the bow for the first time in the movement, join the piano on the harmonized cadences and appoggiaturas.

The plucked cello plays in double-stops in the off-beat accompaniment patterns to compensate for the added strength of the violins. After the first two measures, there is intensification as before, but the colorful inflections are heightened and actually lead toward a new key.

The goal is the key of the B section, E major, notated as F-flat in this transitional passage. The cello takes the bow for the first time in the movement here, and another triplet figure leads into the following transition. At the climax, the instruments all suddenly hold back in tempo and diminish in volume. While the piano emphasizes the lead-in to E major, the strings slowly descend into that key, all now playing with the bow.

The piano plays octaves with some syncopation and internal harmonic motion. Over the held piano bass B, chromatic descending thirds in the right hand and a syncopated line in the first violin smoothly bridge into the theme of the B section. B Section --E major 2: They then continue in unison on descending patterns in triplet rhythm. The theme is marked molto espressivo and is more intense than the A section melody. After two measures, the piano right hand takes the lead with a continuation in straight rhythm, harmonized in sixths.

The unison triplets in second violin and viola continue under the piano as an accompaniment pattern. The first violin plays two more isolated rolled chords. The piano bass adds rising octaves like the upbeats that led into the melody. The first violin drops out, then the second violin also subtly exits, leaving the now accompanying triplet rhythm to the viola. The piano reaches a half-close in E minor with only the viola and cello remaining from the strings.

At the half-close, the cello takes the bow and plays a descending line. The piano then drops out. The second violin and viola join the cello, quickly moving back to E major and leading into the next statement of the melody. The second violin adds a new counterpoint in clashing straight rhythm, bringing in the two-against-three conflict earlier than before, but vaguely imitating the first violin.

The piano alone plays the rolled chords with both hands doubled an octave apart. The continuation in straight rhythm that had been played by piano alone is again taken by the piano, but unlike the beginning of the statement, the continuation is an octave lower than before. Its harmonies are doubled by the viola and cello, which enter here.

The first violin continues the triplets in the accompanying role. The second violin continues its straight-rhythm line, now subordinate to viola, cello, and piano. All strings except the viola drop out, and the piano presses with the minor-key continuation in a more agitated manner. Brahms indicates a steady, gradual acceleration. These triplets then pass to octaves in the piano right hand in a role reversal, and the cello joins the viola in an extension of the minor-key continuation. After one more measure, the two violins join in as well. The extension, with a steady buildup, continues for three more measures.

The first violin and cello are an octave apart, as are the viola and second violin, which harmonize them. The piano triplets continue, as does the solid bass. The strings recede in volume and tempo, settling back to a cadence in E major as the piano triplets dissipate. The piano plays chords, dolce , in the rhythm of the accompaniment to the main A section theme. Its upbeats are then twice joined by first violin and viola on descending ninths using the chromatic note D-natural.

After four measures, the viola moves to a new half-step pattern, using the dotted rhythm and another chromatic note, C-natural which also appears in the piano chords. On the last upbeat, the cello leaps down to D-natural as had the first violin and viola before. Very quietly and mysteriously, the piano again plays chords in the rhythm of the accompaniment to the A section theme. The strings again add their dotted-rhythm upbeats, now mostly the urgent, dissonant leaping ninth. Now the cello descends and the two violins ascend. The second violin has smaller leaps of a fourth and a fifth.

The violin leaps resolve downward, easing the tension. The harmony moves down by half-step from the previous E major. The first two measures strongly suggest E-flat minor and major. They are then shifted down another half-step for two measures that seem to fall in D minor and major. Another half-step descent appears to begin, but it is immediately diverted back to D by the winding cello and the piano chords.

The violins drop out. The note D is isolated in the viola and cello, the latter plucked and the former using the familiar accompaniment rhythm of the A section. The quiet, mysterious mood prevails. After two measures, the violins enter in thirds, dolce , with the opening gesture of the A section theme itself, not in G minor, but G major. The violins use the G-minor harmony to pivot artfully to A-flat major, the home key of the movement. The piano drops out for two measures. The cello and viola continue their established pattern on the new pitch.

The violins begin to spin out a yearning passage, harmonized in thirds, that is clearly targeted toward the arrival of the main A section theme in the home key. After a brief acceleration and swelling of volume, the piano re-enters, with its low bass doubling the viola. At that point, the first violin reaches its highest pitch, the harmony between the violins expands to sixths, and then both speed and volume quickly recede, settling into the well-prepared, natural arrival.

The first phrase is played with no alterations. The first phrase transfers the main theme to the first violin and cello, which maintain the original piano harmonies, stretched from thirds to tenths. The accompaniment is given to the piano, which adds a gentle rising arpeggio to each entry after the first beat of the measure.

Otherwise, it is similar to the original string accompaniment, with some added chords. In the last two measures of the phrase, the second violin joins in to double and strengthen the cello line in a higher octave. The second violin does not join, but the accompaniment in the piano, which retains the decorative arpeggios, adds more chordal harmonies, including rolled chords at the end of the phrase.

At this point, the analogous relationship returns, and this phrase corresponds to 0: But it is really a continuation of the varied repetition, since Brahms retains the scoring of that repetition, with the melody in the strings and accompaniment in the piano. The piano, in fact, continues its established pattern of adding gentle arpeggios to each entry of the accompaniment rhythm.

For this phrase, the viola is added to first violin and cello, doubling the violin in a lower octave. The phrase builds, as it did before, moving to C minor, and the piano continues to add richer chords to the accompaniment, rolling them at the climax. The second violin enters and doubles the cello, the viola continuing to double the first violin. The piano continues its established accompaniment pattern with the initial arpeggios, and it adds even wider rolled chords at the strong arrival on D-flat. The half-close in C-flat and the full cadence in A-flat are retained. The strings continue to take the melodic lead, with first violin doubled by the viola and the second violin doubling cello.

The piano finally abandons the graceful ascending arpeggios at the beginning of its accompaniment patterns. Rolled chords give way to block chords at the expressive turn figure in C-flat. At the very satisfying cadence in A-flat, the last three first violin notes are doubled in speed from their previous piano presentation.

This causes the cadence to arrive on the last beat of the measure rather than the first. The new Coda that takes the place of Part 3 begins on the upbeat with this cadence. This new material is actually derived from the wide dotted-rhythm upbeat at the beginning of the B section theme, specifically as this upbeat appeared in the epilogue and re-transition.

The first violin plays the first upbeat, a rising octave, and continues with this. The viola and cello follow with descending ninths an octave apart. Meanwhile, the piano plays rising thirds in both hands, introducing some chromatic motion to match the chromatic leaps of a ninth in the low strings. Suddenly, the right hand blossoms into joyously arching triplet octaves and a syncopated appoggiatura as the first violin reaches upward.

All four instruments the second violin is absent reach a broad climax here, then settle down. The piano again uses thirds in this descent. The viola and cello remain an octave apart, but turn upward. The viola leads with the first upbeat octave while the piano right hand takes the descending ninths, now in high octaves.

The first violin, cello, and piano bass play the rising lines, the harmonies now spread out. The joyously arching triplet octaves and syncopated appoggiatura are now taken by first violin and cello. The piano, also in octaves, takes the role previously played by the low strings here. The second violin is still absent. This ending passage is suddenly expanded. The closing gestures do not settle down, but increase in speed and urgency, repeating patterns with new chromatic inflections.

This continues for three measures. Brahms thwarts that expectation with a sudden and striking detour to F major at the climax. The piano leaps down in syncopated octaves against its rising bass. The viola drops out, leaving the first violin and cello to settle down from the climax. They also play in syncopation on repeated notes.. Under them, the piano leads through very active and colorful chords back to the home key of A-flat.

Everything rapidly becomes slower and quieter. The two strings descend, again in syncopation, toward a cadence. The piano plays chords on the off-beats under the cello. It then joins the melody, along with the viola, adding the familiar harmonization and leaving the off-beats to the bass.

There is a rapid buildup. Gloriously, the two violins enter, diverging from the original material and expanding the opening gestures with rich, full harmony and volume the second making its first entrance after a long absence. The piano right hand and viola subtly shift to trail after the violins on these gestures. The cello, now plucked, along with the piano bass, plays broken octaves on the keynote A-flat, signifying a final arrival.

The violins come to a close and the viola continues to trail, still including the dissonance. It is supported by the piano right hand. The octaves in the plucked cello and piano bass continue as the viola and the piano right hand, which plays in comforting thirds, lead to the last chord. The scherzo begins ominously and extremely quietly with a thumping plucked cello on its low C. After two measures, the viola and first violin enter on a highly syncopated unison arpeggio that seems to suggest A-flat major the key of the slow movement rather than C minor.

After the arpeggio, they slide into a sinuous melody, also syncopated and unison, that finally confirms the C-minor key. The cello continues to pluck the low C, keeping a steady beat. It is narrow and almost sinister, a quality enhanced by its syncopation. After two identical gestures, the piano follows the violin and viola on arching lines, always syncopated, that reach high and close off the first statement of Theme 1. Still in unison, they utter a highly distinctive and rhythmic idea. Still quiet and ominous, the percussive, driving force of this idea will later reach its full potential.

The second sequence reaches higher, changing the turn to a brief arpeggio. In a third sequence, the cello and making its first appearance the second violin enter in support with plucked chords that remain close to G. The first violin joins these, leaving the viola alone on the persistent long-short rhythm. After the hushed and ominous opening, all five instruments suddenly break out into a loud and joyous chorale in C major. It begins with an upbeat, in this case a half-measure after a rest on the downbeat.

It is richly harmonized and has a march-like quality. The three-chord upbeats propel the chorale forward. Instead of providing low bass support, as in the first statement, the left hand doubles the chords an octave lower, with both hands in the treble register. Halfway through, the piano abandons the imitation and simply supports the strings with chords, although its top voice does not play the melody as it did before. The viola and cello add punctuating octaves.

There are two statements of the arpeggios with the thumping Theme 3 octaves. The cello quietly enters with the syncopated arpeggio in first violin and viola. The second of these, however, reaches a step higher, as do the first violin and viola. The ensuing high syncopated arching lines build rapidly. The cello and second violin join. The violins, in thirds, double the viola and cello below them. The piano right hand follows.

The cello having abandoned its low plucked notes, the thumps are passed to the piano bass in low octaves. The arching lines reach higher, and make a true motion to G. It is also given in full harmony, with piano chords doubled by the lower strings. The top lines of the piano and the first violin have the actual melody, including the turn figures and arpeggios. The chords support the long-short rhythm.

The third, closing sequence is replaced by a repetition of the first two in a new key, B-flat minor. It begins at a suddenly much quieter level. This detached line marches downward, leaps back up, and marches down again. It slides from E-flat minor to B-flat minor. The original marching, detached countersubject is in the viola, with some changes of contour.

The theme is in the newly entering first violin.

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The original detached countersubject is in the piano right hand, but the piano bass adds a new line moving in contrary motion to the original line. The second, syncopated countersubject is in the viola, continuing from the first one. The theme is again in the piano right hand, an octave higher than the second statement, the detached countersubject in the first violin, and the syncopated one back in the piano bass.

The viola adds a new line in conjunction with the detached countersubject in the first violin similar to that given the piano bass in the third statement. This statement, unlike the second, is not extended by a measure. Instead, the end of the last measure is slightly altered. The theme is in its original instrument for the fugue, the viola.

The original detached countersubject is back in the piano left hand, but it is now in the treble register. The syncopated countersubject is high in the piano right hand. The second violin and cello make their first entries. The second violin plays the viola line from the fourth statement. The ending is altered to approach a different goal instead of B-flat minor. But this is really the beginning of a large ascending sequence that serves as a transition. Elements of the two countersubjects alternate between hands of the piano. This transition is a type of fugal stretto stacking of subject entries.

You may ask me for a manually cleaned version. Editor Alfred Bachelet Arranger Theodor Kirchner — This file is part of the Sibley Mirroring Project. Arranger Otto Singer II Quintette pour piano et cordes ; Sonate pour deux pianos. Poco sostenuto — Allegro non troppo F minor. Version History Composed for string quintet, lost Revised for piano and string quartet, , as the Piano Quintet, Op. Not long afterwards Brahms was able to send the complete work to his other chief musical advisor, the violinist Joseph Joachim.

I congratulate you, and shall be happy to hear the piece … Of course, I should prefer to play it through to you first … The quintet is difficult, and I fear that without an energetic performance it will sound a little unclear. At the same time, with characteristic self-critical thoroughness, he destroyed the string quintet, so that we have no means of knowing to what extent he revised its musical content. And for that reason you went and made a duo out of it? You seem not to have been satisfied with it in its original form, or rather its sound?

A few months later, Clara Schumann played the two-piano sonata with the conductor Hermann Levi—one of the few outstanding musicians of the day to appreciate the genius of both Brahms and Wagner. He conducted regularly at Bayreuth, and gave the premiere of Parsifal. When Hermann Levi heard the work in its latest guise he told Brahms:. In the same letter to Brahms, of 9 November , Levi made suggestions for improving the scoring of certain passages, some of which the composer accepted.

One significant change concerned an angular passage in triplets in the central section of the slow movement, which Levi feared was too awkward for the cello. Brahms duly transferred it to the viola. However, for all the reservations about the two-piano version of the work expressed by both Levi and Clara Schumann, Brahms never lost his affection for it.

The note is the same in both works—a repeated C that lends a dissonant aspect to the reprise of the main theme that unfolds above it in the home key. The smooth main melody of the A flat major slow movement eventually gives way to a middle section that sets out in E major, presenting a more energetic theme with a yearning upbeat figure featuring an ascending leap of an octave.

The Scherzo is not in the home key, but in C minor, and its atmosphere of subdued drama is one that Beethoven often favoured when writing in this key.

The grandiose C major theme that bursts out shortly after the start is actually an expansion of the quiet march-like idea that precedes it, and the trio is based on a closely related theme. Towards the end the piece appears to be heading towards a peaceful conclusion, before a much quicker coda, based on a rhythmic transformation of the rondo theme, brings the work to a headlong finish.

Brahms folgte Claras Rat. Im gleichen Brief an Brahms vom 9. Sie war von dem Werk so angetan, dass Brahms ihr die handschriftliche Partitur schenkte. Das grandiose C-Dur-Thema, das kurz nach dem Anfang hervorbricht, ist in Wirklichkeit eine Erweiterung des ihm vorangegangenen leisen marschartigen Gedankens. Das Trio beruht auf einem eng verwandten Thema.

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