Bar 6 -Brahms 2

The Bengals have won, the baba ganoush has been made, the Bolognese ingredients for the pasta are bought and assembled, so on to Brahms.

The first bar reminds one of the opening of Beethoven Violin Concerto; what seems to be introductory is actually structural; repeated timpani D's leading to 3 bars of winds in the Beethoven, a half-step motive in cello and bass (D-C sharp-D) leading to three bars of horns and bassoons in the Brahms.   Is it a coincidence they are in the same key?  Brahms rarely strays far from Beethoven in the symphonies (in what key is Beethoven 2?), but that is old news.  Nor does Brahms neglect Beethoven's timpani; it emerges in bar 32 like distant thunder ushering in the trombone/tuba chorale.  This chorale is significant; it marks the first time Brahms uses trombones without the support of bassoons or horns (see his first symphony, last movement, bar 47) as well as his first time employing tuba in a symphony (he uses it once earlier, in Ein deutsches Requiem).  It is also in a sense cyclic: The question posed by the trombones in this passage is in fact answered by them at the conclusion of the final movement, in as bold a gesture of orchestration as Brahms every conceived, the radiant D Major triad five bars from the end.

That the entire symphony is derived from the opening half step gesture and the 3rd in the horns is no surprise, either.  But to explain this all here would be to deny you the pleasure of discovering it yourself.  After the laborious, overt manipulation of every ounce of motivic gesture in the 1st symphony, isn't it a relief to witness the virtuoso construction and composition of the 2nd! Motive follows motive, extending into melody, seamlessly and seemingly without effort.  For me, D Major proves to be a transcendental key for Brahms, both spiritually and in the sense of transcending craft.  For comparison, look at the Violin Concerto, the ending of the first Piano Concerto and the overlooked but sublime Ballade No. 2 in D Major, Op.10 no. 2.

A sunny thought to end this posting.  Almost makes you forget that the Reds lost to Houston.