Themes and Double Themes: The Problem of the Symphonic in Brahms

Author(s): Giselher Schubert

Source: 19th-Century Music, Vol. 18, No. 1, Brahms--Liszt--Wagner (Summer, 1994), pp.
10-23
Published by: University of California Press
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/746599
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 Themes and Double Themes:

The Problem of the Symphonic in Brahm

GISELHER SCHUBERT

Andante in the Brahms sonata is derived from

Every analysis of Brahms's music is confronted
anscarcely
with a vast array of criteria. Since it is "old German Minnelied"; Brahms even
possible to reach agreement about which printed
shouldit with text underlay in the piano so-
have priority in any given case, it is better tofour variations that follow correspond
nata. The
keep open a range of perspectives. The precisely
First Pi-in mood to the verses of the song, so
that
ano Sonata in C Major, op. 1 (1852-53), onein-
for could almost speak of text-based in-
stance, with its sonata-allegro first movement,strumental music. The theme of the middle
variation-form Andante, scherzo and episode trio, of
andthe rondo finale is a setting of the text
rondo finale, makes up the traditional four-
of yet another folk song whose text, however,
movement sonata form; at the same time, Brahmshow-did not indicate in the piano sonata.'
ever, Brahms individualizes the historicalCompositionally,
refer- Brahms relates the princi-
ence. He establishes associations withpal not onlyof the work to one another; the core
themes
a tradition of formal organization but motive of the first movement's main theme, in
also spe-
cific works. The main theme of the first move- a different rhythmic guise, is also common to
ment is rhythmically almost identical to the the first theme of the second group (mm. 39-
main theme of the first movement of 50); the second theme of the second group (mm.
Beethoven's "Hammerklavier" Sonata in BL 51-58) presents the motive in inversion; and two
Major, op. 106; as in Beethoven's "Waldstein" further variants of the motive appear (mm. 59-
Sonata in C Major, op. 53, the first repetition62 of
and mm. 70-73) in the development section
the main theme in the first movement occurs in that follows. The motive is also the basis of the
BL major; and the piano writing and rhythmic variation theme of the Andante; moreover, the
texture of the final movement have a direct refrain theme of the rondo finale is derived di-
model in another of Beethoven's C-Major Piano rectly from the main theme of the first move-
Sonatas, op. 2, no. 3. The variation theme of ment
the by means of thematic metamorphosis. At

19th-Century Music XVIII/1 (Summer 1994). o by The 'Albert Dietrich, Erinnerungen an Johannes Brahms: In
Regents of the University of California. Briefen aus seiner Jugendzeit (Leipzig, 1898), p. 3.

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the same time, the variation theme of the An- cific work thus becomes the site that, on a GISELHER
SCHUBERT
dante is anticipated in the final measures of thevariety of levels, mediates between the autono- The Sympho
first movement, just as the last three measures mous and the heteronomous. in Brahms

of the variation movement anticipate the theme Only one area out of this complex can be
of the following scherzo. In the developmentdiscussed here, namely, the relationship of the-
section of the first movement, there is an un- matic structure and formal process in move-
usually extensive degree of contrapuntal and me-ments in sonata-allegro form, and the genre-
lodic integration: Brahms treats the second specific qualities of that form. The question is
theme of the second group canonically (mm. 88-whether and how such sonata-allegro forms in
95); contrapuntalizes the opening motive of thisBrahms's symphonies-which have often been
theme with the opening motive of the maincharacterized as "monumentalized" chamber
theme (mm. 104-07); combines the opening mo- music-differ from those in his actual chamber
tive of the first theme of the second group withmusic, and in what way the symphonic idea
the opening motive of the main theme, therebycan be distinguished in Brahms's music.
creating a new melodic contour (mm. 124-35);
and finally treats the first theme of the second I

group canonically as well (mm. 153-60). Beyond It is at once apparent from the creative niveau
this, at the beginning of the coda, he accompa- of the C-Major Piano Sonata that the attempt
nies the second theme of the second group withto describe a development in Brahms's com-
a variant formed by its own diminution (mm. posing is beset with serious difficulties. It is
238-44), and even relates the two voices throughalmost impossible to see how the concise, com-
invertible counterpoint. pressed means Brahms employs in op. 1 could
Brahms thus composes a piano sonata with have been developed further or could perhaps
demonstratively traditional lineaments, whicheven be shown to contain elements of musical
he complicates by associations with specific "progress." To be sure, Brahms's composing
works; at the same time, he closely integratesevolved steadily, and the driving force of that
the movements thematically with recourse todevelopment seems always to lie specifically
contrapuntally based developmental techniques. in remotivating and fulfilling traditional for-
The actual and implied connection of two ofmal precepts. In the dicta he compiled as "the
the themes to a text expands the aesthetic con- young Kreisler's treasure chest" (which give
text of the work and points to the realm ofsome indication of his convictions), Brahms
text-related instrumental music. Furthermore, explicitly associates the concepts "form" and
Brahms himself gave the work remarkable bio- "Ur-principle." "Form," he writes, "is some-
graphical significance when, as one of his lastthing that has been created over a thousand
compositions, he composed a voice and pianoyears through the efforts of the greatest mas-
setting of the song that had served as model for ters and which it behooves every follower to
the Andante and emphasized that the "circle"learn as quickly as possible. It would be a most
had thus been "closed."2 As a result, Brahms'sfoolish delusion of misguided originality for
Piano Sonata, op. 1, is an aesthetically autono-everyone to set out again to search and grope
mous work, which, on the one hand, securesfor what was already available in great perfec-
and intensifies its autonomy by means of thetion."3 Elsewhere he notes that "those who
most ambitious and subtle musical design and,
on the other, undermines that autonomy
3"Die Form ist etwas durch tausendjahrige Bestrebungen
through the incorporation into the work of het- der vorziiglichsten Meister gebildetes, das sich jeder
eronomous elements inspired by literature or Nachkommende nicht schnell genug zu eigen machen
personal biography. In Brahms's ceuvre, the spe- kann.-Ein h6chst tbrichter Wahn iibelverstandener
Originalitat wlirde es sein, wenn da jeder wieder auf
eigenem Wege herumsuchen und herumtappen wollte, um
das zu finden, was schon in grofier Vollkommenheit
vorhanden ist" (Des jungen Kreislers Schatzkdstlein:
2See "49 Deutsche Volkslieder," no. 49 (1893/94) (Johannes
Brahms, Sdmtliche Werke, vol. 26 [Leipzig, 1949], p. Ausspriiche
174); von Dichtern, Philosophen und Kiinstlern:
Max Kalbeck, Johannes Brahms, vol. IV (2nd edn. Berlin,
Zusammengetragen durch Johannes Brahms, ed. Carl Krebs
1915), p. 358. [Berlin, 1909], p. 143 [no. 482]).

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 19TH have excelled are those who kept returning of onetotheme are, as it were, infused into an-
CENTURY
MUSIC the Ur-principles and who developed knowl- other thematic form.6
edge and abilities through observation, learn- Brahms intensifies the techniques of both
ing, and practice."4 variation-development of strophically intro-
In the Third Piano Sonata, op. 5 (1853), duced
for-themes and motivic-thematic mediation
mal continuity, which appears comparable in thetofirst movement of the Trio, op. 8 (first
version, 1854). The second theme (mm. 84-
that of op. 1, is achieved through completely
different means. The cyclic integration of the
147) grows instinctively out of the main theme
and presents almost identical motivic substance
five movements is created by a particular rhyth-
mic motive-which directly relates theinfirst three different guises: a recitative fragment
movement (e.g., mm. 7-15), the scherzo(mm. (trio, 84-98), a fugue theme (mm. 98-102 and
mm. 17-21), and the Riickblick (reminiscence)
118-23), and a scherzo type (mm. 126-47).7 In
movement (mm. 1-19 and 31-52)-as well theasrecapitulation, the second theme group is
by the way in which the Riickblick movement then treated as a fugue based on the fugue theme
takes up the music of the second movement from the exposition. Consequently, in a rare
and even continues to develop it in narrative
formal arrangement, the second theme section
terms. This external connection between the in the recapitulation becomes the goal of a
movements compensates for the lack of the- further, embedded, formal development. The
matic interconnectedness. In the first move-
development of the musical characters that have
ments, on the other hand, Brahms creates such
been introduced leads beyond traditional form
a dense web of motivic-thematic relationships
and by so doing tends toward its dissolution.
between theme groups that it is almost pos-The rigorous development of the thematic
sible to speak of a tendency toward mono- characters in op. 8 is presumably also related to
thematicism. The main theme is introduced the trio scoring. The expansion of form de-
strophically in two variants: one powerful,
scribed above corresponds to the expansion of
chordal, and virtuosic (mm. 1-6), the other
scoring from that of the piano sonatas and leads
quiet, restrained, and melodic (mm. 8-16),tosoa differentiation of compositional texture,
that the main theme does not really have a
which only in the fugato achieves the true po-
"basic form." A further variant of the main lyphony that must have been Brahms's under-
theme serves as a transition to the second theme
lying goal for the trio combination. The expan-
(mm. 23-34); here, in a process reminiscent of sion of the number of real voices in the compo-
the beginning of the coda of the first move- sitional texture and the expansion of scoring
are obviously interrelated, as is immediately
ment of op. 1, the variant is placed in counter-
point with its own diminished form. The sec- apparent from the expansion and dissolution of
ond theme (mm. 39-70) thereupon emerges from traditional form. Because Brahms later thor-
the main theme as if by motivic-thematic me- oughly revised the Trio, he must have regarded
diation.5 The concept of motivic-thematic me- it less as a solution than as the explication of a
diation, which was introduced by Christian formal and scoring problem, a problem that is
Martin Schmidt, describes those means by then also reflected in his desperate attempts to
which characteristic diastematic relationships come to grips with the musical cosmos from
which he wrested his Piano Concerto, op. 15,
or the music of his First Serenade, op. 11.

4"Alle, die immer wieder zu den Urprinzipien

zurfickkehrten und Kenntnisse und Fertigkeiten
beobachtend, lernend, iibend ausbildeten, sind tfichtig
geworden" (Des jungen Kreislers Schatzkiastlein, 62 [no. 6Christian Martin Schmidt, Verfahren der motivisch-
thematischen Vermittlung in der Musik von Johannes
247], identical with 148 [no. 492] [except that "Fertigkeiten"
on p. 62 reads "Fihigkeiten" on p. 148]). Brahms dargestellt an der Klarinettensonate f-moll, op.
5See Jiirgen Schlider, "Zur Funktion der Variantentechnik 120, 1 (Munich, 1971).
in den Klaviersonaten f-Moll von Johannes Brahms und 7See Norbert Meurs, "Das verstellte Friihwerk: Zum H-
h-Moll von Franz Liszt," in Brahms und seine Zeit (Laaber, dur-Trio op. 8 von Johannes Brahms," Musica 37 (1983),
1984), p. 177. 34-39.

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 II is outwardly apparent through the differenti- GISELHER
SCHUBERT
The First Piano Concerto, op. 15 (1856-57), ated and differentiating orchestration: the main The Sympho
and the two Serenades, op. 11 (1857) and op. 16 theme in the violins and cellos over the thun- in Brahms

(1858-59), are the first large-scale works whose dering pedal, the first ancillary theme with a
orchestration initially proved almost insolubly subtle mixture of woodwinds and strings, the
difficult for Brahms. Orchestration obviously second ancillary theme with a woodwind
comprises more than merely writing idiomati- complement delicately colored with high
cally for instruments; at a fundamental level, it strings, the third ancillary theme with its com-
also involves the relationship of formal struc- pressed orchestral tutti, the second theme with
ture, compositional technique, and scoring. its piano solo, and, finally, the fourth ancillary
Larger scoring requires a musical texture of theme with its horn solo.
greater polyphony, grounded in contrapuntal or Accompanying the thematic development is
motivic-thematic processes, which would also a continuous and profuse differentiation of the
become apparent in matters of form. Thus, in orchestration. Naturally, that leads to the fun-
the first movement of the First Piano Con- damental problem of creating a truly polyphonic
certo, Brahms considerably increased the num- musical texture. The thundering pedal demon-
ber of theme groups, with the result thatstrates
the how ingeniously Brahms masters this
movement is almost impossible to grasp as a
difficulty; he makes a virtue of necessity and
whole. In addition to the two central themes- imbues the pedal with a significance that pre-
determines the character of the entire move-
the energetic main theme presented over a pedal
(mm. 1-5) and the lyric cantabile second themement. In the first movement, he derives all
presented by the solo piano (mm. 157-66)-
elements of a real polyphony motivically. Us-
ing the means described in the Piano Sonatas,
there are four ancillary themes in all, which are
to some extent motivically interrelated.8 ops. 1 and 5, and in portions of the develop-
The motivic-thematic process that Brahms ment of the Trio, op. 8, Brahms sets the main
works out in the first movement transforms theme in diminution, places it in the middle-
these latent relationships into explicit ones.voice range, and expands it to an accom-
The compositional means consist, on the onepanimental layer, which he thereupon merges
hand, of significant exchange among the ancil-with the first and fourth ancillary themes.
lary themes in the various thematic sections The massive first movement of the Piano
and, on the other, of their variation and devel-Concerto, op. 15, remained unique in Brahms's
opment. While the two central themes func-ceuvre; never again did he compose an instru-
tion like formal pillars from which the musicalmental movement of such length. In the Ser-
process begins and to which it returns, thatenades, ops. 11 and 16, he even simplified the
process itself is borne by the ancillary themes. musical texture from what it had been in the
In this process, Brahms leaves the first ancil-Piano Sonatas or the Trio, op. 8. Indeed, one
lary theme (mm. 26-44) fairly unchanged; the might even speak of a "breakthrough" to sim-
second (mm. 46-61) undergoes substantial plicity with the Serenades, although a break-
change, so that its identity becomes increas- through in which he by no means forgot any of
ingly unrecognizable; the third (mm. 76-81) the problems that were preoccupying him. For
has above all a strong rhythmic personality and instance, he worked out the problem of the-
no basic diastematic form; the fourth (mm. 82- matic integration of the six movements of op.
86), finally, seems increasingly to develop into 11 in an unusual way. In the development sec-
another form that from then on (mm. 210-15) tion of the first movement, Brahms astonish-
functions as its basic one. Each of the themes is ingly introduces a new and striking motive (mm.
associated with a particular musical texture, as 247-54), from which he derives the main themes
of the second, third, and fourth movements, as
well as important motivic-thematic processes
in the last two movements (mm. 17-21 and
'See Carl Dahlhaus, Johannes Brahms: Klavierkonzert Nr.
mm. 134-88). The compositional texture is prin-
1 d-Moll, op. 15, vol. III, Meisterwerke der Musik (Munich,
1965). cipally reduced to a main voice with sparse

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 19TH harmonic accompaniment, and the freshness techniques with melodic continuity; what is
CENTURY
MUSIC and poetry of its thematic invention have allsurprising and unpredictable is the way
entirely
the simplicity and innocence one expects in which he creates this synthesis. On the one
from
a serenade. hand, his compositional technique is stripped
But already in the Second Serenade, op. 16, of anything demonstrative or spectacular, be-
which in its reduced scoring is closer to cham- ing transferred, as it were, to the work's core
ber music, Brahms unobtrusively intensifies the and most readily apparent through analysis.
analogous formal configuration. He composes On the other hand, he incorporates melodic
the sonatalike first movement as an uninter-continuity in a structured way and secures it
rupted melodic continuity. All the themeconstructively. For instance, the opening of the
groups, transitions, or structural divisions are first movement of the First String Sextet, op.
shaped primarily melodically through varied18 (1860), unmistakably follows the model of
repetition or development of brief phrases,the Serenade, op. 16, opening as it does with a
melodically continuous theme that comprises
through instrumental alternation during a single
phrase, or through diminution or augmentation forty-three measures. And all the sections of
of phrase endings that accelerate or retard thethe exposition that follow-an intermediary
melodic flow. On the other hand, the composi-group, a thematically independent transition, a
second group, and a developmental portion of
tional texture is, if possible, even simpler, even
less spectacular than that of the First Serenade.that group9-are derived from the main theme
This is all the more remarkable in view of the through variation. In this sense, the exposition
fact that Brahms was intensively studying coun- could be regarded as a variation of the main
terpoint during the time he wrote the Serenades. theme. Brahms, however, establishes the genu-
To be sure, he also supplemented these studiesine polyphony of the musical texture not merely
with a similarly thorough study of folk songs, through counterpoint and motivic-thematic
and this may have had an even greater influ- means, but by allowing it to grow out of the
ence on his composing during that time. emancipation of the bass in an extraordinarily
Brahms's development can be seen from a wide-ranging harmonic plan. The main theme
comparison of the Second Serenade with thedevelops from BM major through DM major, B
Trio, op. 8. In the Trio, there are variationalminor, Ab major, Gb major, and F minor back to
changes and developments of a strophically in- BM major; the intermediary group touches on F
troduced main theme, motivic-thematic me- minor and C minor; the thematically indepen-
diation in the second theme, motivic-themati- dent transition on A major, D minor, and D
cally based true polyphony in the development, major; the development of the second theme
and a fugato in the recapitulation as the goal of on the secondary dominant, C major.
a latent formal process; in the Second Serenade, In the two Piano Quartets, ops. 25 and 26
on the other hand, there is continuous melodic (1861), Brahms radically reduced and condensed
shaping of the form in combination with a com-the main theme material that was to unfold
positional texture of utmost economy andthrough variation. In op. 25 almost all the the-
unpretentiousness. In the Trio, op. 8, Brahmsmatic characters of the movement are derived
accepts the formal implications of the musical through the inversion, combination, or split-
characters at the same time that they dissolve, ting off of a four-note motive.'0 In op. 26, on
as it were, the sonata-allegro form; in the Ser- the other hand, the musical development is
enade, op. 16, the sonata-allegro form is pro-primarily initiated rhythmically, through the
pelled in an entirely new way by continuous juxtaposition of a diastematically identical mo-
melodic development, while the form in turntive in duple and triple rhythm.
gives the development its direction.

III 9Wolfgang Ruf, "Die zwei Sextette von Brahms: Eine

It is not surprising that in the instrumental analytische Studie," in Brahms-Analysen: Referate der
Kieler Tagung 1983 (Kassel, 1984), pp. 123-25.
works that follow-all of them chamber mu- 'oDahlhaus, Nineteenth-Century Music, trans. J. B.
sic-Brahms combined elaborate compositional Robinson (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1989), pp. 256-57.

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 In the first movement of the Piano Quartet, (mm. 57-73) so that the group here seems al-
GISELHER
SCHUBERT
op. 25, the subsidiary voices emerge from a most bithematic. The Sympho
process of thematicization of the accompani- in Brahms

ment: to the first repetition of the main theme IV

(mm. 27-34) Brahms adds an accompanimental In contrast to these chamber music sonata-
motive derived from the main theme, forges a allegro forms, that of the first movement of the
development section with this motive (mm. Symphony No. 1, op. 68 (1862-76), demon-
35-41), integrates it motivically into the sec- strates a remarkable expansion of the thematic
ond theme (m. 56, violin), works it into the concept toward a concept of the main theme
accompanimental pattern of the repeated sec-area as a double theme (which must obviously
ond theme (mm. 79-92), and derives from thisbe regarded as genre-specific even though it is
motive the concluding theme group (mm. 100-already anticipated in the thematic integration
20). Consequently, the thematic substance ofof the accompaniment in the first movement
the movement is reduced to a few notes, while of the Piano Quartet, op. 25, and, even more
at the same time almost every musical eventimportant, in the quasi-bithematic treatment
has thematic significance. of the second theme group of the first move-
In the chamber music works that follow, ment of the Piano Quintet, op. 34). As it hap-
Brahms modified this relationship between for-pens, the genesis of the First Symphony can be
mal/structural process and the motivic-the- dated reliably as far back as the year 1862,
matic events, above all in those cases where hewhen the Piano Quartet, op. 25, and the Piano
employed new kinds of scoring. The last move- Quintet, op. 34, were composed. In a letter to
ment of the Cello Sonata, op. 38 (1862-65), forJoachim, Clara Schumann quotes the first four
instance, combines fugal with sonata-allegromeasures of the Allegro, describing them as the
form, providing, through genuinely contrapun- "bold opening" of the symphony." Unfortu-
tal techniques, a solution for that particularlynately, her example ends with the measure in
difficult problem-true polyphony-which is which the second of the double themes enters.
inherent in duo sonatas. In the Horn Trio, op.It is therefore uncertain whether the move-
40 (1865), the character of the thematic mate-ment had a bithematic structure as early as
rial is once again predetermined by the horn.1862, but it seems likely.
Here in the final movement, the only one in Brahms opens the Allegro with the first main
sonata-allegro form, Brahms introduces typical theme, as if with a thesis, which the immedi-
horn figures; these are rigorously thematic but ately following second main theme (whose char-
because the horn itself can barely play them,acteristics are in every way differentiated from
they are allotted to the violin, while the hornthose of the first) completes and extends, as
merely joins in. The sphere of horn music is, as with a second thesis. The first main theme,
it were, a weighty musical presence even be- however, immediately provides counterpoint
fore the horn enters. In the three String Quar- to the second, and out of this initial melodic as
tets, op. 51, no. 1 and no. 2 (1873), as well as op. well as contrapuntal bithematicism grows a
67 (1875), Brahms goes so far as to increase the remarkably dense, multilayered thematic pro-
thematic coherence beyond the individual cess whose intensity spans the entire work (ex.
works, composing them in anticipation or remi- 1). Brahms presents the two themes of the
niscence of each other. double theme in a melodically continuous in-
In contrast to these works, it is worth noting troduction that precedes the Allegro; in other
how Brahms develops the thematic integration words, they too have been derived.12 In the
of the accompaniment in the Piano Quintet,
op. 34 (1862). He opens the first movement
"Berthold Litzmann, Clara Schumann: Ein Kiinstlerleben
with a motto presented in unison, immediately nach Tagebitchern und Briefen, vol. III (Leipzig, 1908), pp.
develops it in diminution, and then repeats the 123-24 (letter dated 1 July 1862).
motto within a fully developed harmonic tex-12Siegfried Kross, "Thematic Structure and Formal Pro-
cesses in Brahms's Sonata Movements," in Brahms Stud-
ture. In the second group, the main theme inies: Analytical and Historical Perspectives, ed. George S.
diminution accompanies the second theme Bozarth (Oxford, 1990), p. 437.

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 19TH 2nd main theme
CENTURY
MUSIC

Allegro 1st main theme

Example 1: Brahms, Symphony No. 1.

double theme that opens the Allegro, the mu- rhythmic context and regarded as "abstract"
sic of the introduction is given its thematic material, can be seen to provide a high degree
personality, so to speak. of integration between all the movements of
Given the background of Brahms's chamber the work. Sixth, opening a sonata-allegro move-
music, it is scarcely necessary to demonstrate ment with a double theme-for which there
that this bithematicism forms the motivic-the- seems to be no precedent in the symphonic
matic basis of the entire first movement; a few works of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert,
examples should suffice. First, both the ex- Mendelssohn, or Schumann-is associated with
position's second (mm. 121-56) and concluding Brahms's understanding of the symphonic
theme groups (mm. 157-89) are motivically de- genre. This in turn allows a more detailed defi-
rived from the double theme. Moreover, under- nition of Brahms's concept of the symphonic.
lying the second theme as counterpoint is the Beethoven's interpretation of the symphonic,
first section of the first main theme; underly- as explicated by Peter Giilke or Carl Dahlhaus,
ing the concluding theme group is the anteced- may serve here as a foil. According to Giilke,
ent of the second main theme in inversion. the dimensions and richness of the orchestra
Second, the thematic antagonism of sonata- become productive elements in Beethoven's
allegro form is operative less in the contrast
symphonies.'13 In Beethoven's symphonic mu-
between the main and second themes than in sic, the experience of a constantly unfolding
the bithematic structure of the main theme. orchestra suppresses any association with one
Moreover, the second theme (mm. 130-38) theme-an experience whose intensity is actu-
scarcely has the effect of contrast; rather, it
ally in inverse proportion to the quantity of
modifies the turbulent character of the musical motivic substance. Whereas in chamber music
activity. Third, Brahms constantly juxtaposes each musical change is correlated to a change
the two parts of the main theme in the exposi- of musical structure, in orchestral writing
tion. In doing so, he often alters the register changes can be introduced merely through new
when repeating phrases. This application of in- instrumental means. This is the way, accord-
vertible counterpoint serves to provide an or- ing to Giilke, that "materiality of orchestral
chestral texture rich in contrast. Fourth, Brahms means" functions in Beethoven's symphonic
creates the climax of the development and the music.14 In that paradigm of the symphonic in
return to the recapitulation (mm. 320-43) from Beethoven, the Third Symphony, Dahlhaus has
only one of the double themes, namely, from diagnosed a correlation between the display of
the first. Here he combines contrapuntally the orchestral resources and the insignificance of
first section of the theme with the second and, the thematic substance; the element of process
at the same time, through motivic confronta-
tion, reveals the inner unity of the concluding
group and first main theme. The climax of the
development is consequently the point of most
intense thematic concentration. Fifth, the first '3Peter Guilke, "Zur Bestimmung des Sinfonischen bei
Beethoven," in Deutsches Jahrbuch der Musikwissenschaft
main theme's chromaticism and the thirds and
far 1970 (Leipzig, 1971), p. 68.
sixths of the second, when taken out of their
14Gfilke, "Zur Bestimmung des Sinfonischen," p. 69.

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 GISELHER
Allegro non troppo 2nd main theme
SCHUBERT
The Sympho
in Brahms

1 10 p dolce

1st main theme

Example 2: Brahms, Symphony No. 2.

in the music is realized as a process of orches- of the First Symphony; but Brahms compli-
tral unfolding.'5 cates the relationship between them in an in-
The difference between Beethoven and conspicuous yet intricate way. Both themes are
Brahms is self-evident. Certainly Brahms, too, cast in regular eight-measure phrases, but the
keeps the substance of his thematic starting phrases are not synchronized with one another.
points-chromaticism, thirds and sixths-as That immediately leads to complicated rhyth-
simple and elementary as possible, but he con- mic-metric, syntactic, and harmonic relation-
structs it as an extremely complicated musical ships. Moreover, the third measure of the sec-
structure intended for development. Every ond theme represents the inversion of the first
change in the orchestral sphere has its precise measure of the first. In the varied repetition of
corollary in a change in the musical structure; the double theme immediately following, this
the process of orchestral unfolding is identical third measure of the second theme even takes
to the process of unfolding of musical struc- on the form of the first measure of the first
ture. In other words, all orchestral effects are theme. Brahms thus interrelates the themes
sublimated in compositional means. In Brahms, motivically (ex. 2).
the riches of the productive orchestra corre- From this opening, referred to in Reinhold
spond to a heightening and intensification of Brinkmann's detailed study as a "thematic con-
compositional means, which now even provide figuration,"16 Brahms derives, each in its own
a basis for color and its effects. A direct result
way, the exposition, development, and coda.
of this compositional enhancement, intensifi- The exposition, that formal section with a tra-
cation, and differentiation of orchestral ditionally
re- prescribed order, introduces, as
sources over the preceding chamber music tex- Brinkmann has demonstrated so convincingly,'7
ture is the complicated bithematic structure new of thematic characters and figures. The de-
the main theme. Brahms multiplies the motivic- velopment, on the other hand, which has no
thematic connections to gain technical mas- prescribed order, aims for a new constellation
tery over the required orchestral effects. of Notthese characters and figures, for new and
unlike Wagner-although in a completely dif- different motivic-thematic divisions, combina-
ferent manner-Brahms the orchestral com- tions, or confrontations. In the exposition,
poser was a miniaturist in order to attain rich Brahms-in what is surely an unprecedentedly
coloristic effects. imaginative, creative process of motivic-the-
Brahms also opens his Second Symphony, matic mediation-derives from the double
op. 73 (1877), with a double theme, although in theme not only all new themes but all subsid-
this case one not preceded by an introduction. iary voices and accompanimental figures as
The two themes-the first with its neighbor- well.'8 And in the development he dissolves
note motive and the second with its thirds and
octaves-are possibly even simpler than those
'6Reinhold Brinkmann, Johannes Brahms: Die Zweite
Symphonie, Spate Idylle, vol. 70, Musik-Konzepte (Munich,
1990), p. 32.
'5Dahlhaus, Ludwig van Beethoven: Approaches 17Ibid.,
to His p. 58.
Music, trans. Mary Whittall (Oxford, 1991), p. 178. '8See the detailed discussion, ibid., pp. 32-35.

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 19TH
CENTURY Allegro con brio 2nd main theme
MUSIC

f f
oL. f passionato

fsf 1st main theme sf sf Sf

Example 3: Brahms, Symphony No. 3.

the double theme into its motivic components

start. Consequently, the motivic-thematic pro-
and assembles them anew. The third measure cess of mediation and development seems more
of the second theme asserts its independence homogeneous, self-contained, and concentrated.
as a melodic phrase (mm. 187-203), which That is the Second Symphony may seem more
also presented in inversion (mm. 254-56) and natural, unpretentious, and self-evident than
thus corresponds with the first measure of the the First is by no means the result of a reduc-
first theme. Brahms elaborates the consequent tion or restriction of compositional demands
phrase of the second theme as a fugato (mm. but rather, on the contrary, of their intensifica-
204-20) and brings the opening of the first theme tion and compression.
in stretto (mm. 224-45). He reduces the second The Third Symphony, op. 90 (1883), also
theme to the opening interval of a third, which opens with a double theme, which is, however,
at the climax of the development he brings in not immediately recognizable as such. The work
counterpoint with the diminution of the open- opens with two massive brass chords in the har-
ing motive of the first theme (mm. 246-49 and monic succession tonic-secondary dominant;
258-61). Finally, in the coda he sets aside the these have the effect of a large upbeat in prepa-
phrase displacement of the two main themes ration for the main theme in the tonic. That the
(mm. 477-92), coordinates them, and thereby first flute plays a melodic figure f2-a2_-f3 as an
smoothes over the rhythmic-metric, syntactic, upper line remains as entirely unnoticed as the
and harmonic complexity. succession of notes F-A-F that are added as a
All these technical devices are handled so bass to the main theme. Only with the develop-
unobtrusively and unspectacularly that even ment of the main theme, which follows imme-
Hanslick stated that Brahms in his Second Sym- diately, is that succession of notes accentuated
pnony nact tortunately suppressect "mns impos- in such a way as to bring out and make recog-
ing, but dangerous, art of hiding his ideas in a
nizable its thematic significance. Thus, the the-
polyphonic web or exposing them to contra- matic significance of the melodic contour of the
puntal frustration"; for that reason, the "the- highest notes of the opening chords and the bass
matic elaboration" in the Second Symphony becomes apparent only with the beginning of
had a "less astonishing" effect than in the themusical development (ex. 3).
First.19 Actually, the reverse is true: Brahms's Whereas in the first two symphonies the
"thematic elaboration" in the Second Sym- musical process develops from an immediately
phony is even more thorough, far-reaching, identifiable and double theme, in the Third Sym-
comprehensive, but the effect is obviously phony less it is the developing musical process that
coercive because the two themes of the double gradually makes manifest the double-thematic
theme are motivically interrelated from thestructure. This circumstance determines the
character of thematic events in the exposition.
On the one hand, the second theme section
19Eduard Hanslick's complete review is republished in (mm.
his 36-48) introduces a really new, themati-
Concerte, Componisten und Virtuosen der letzten ffinfzehn
cally and completely unprepared second theme,
Jahre: 1870-1885 (Berlin, 1886), pp. 224-29; trans. in
Hanslick's Music Criticisms, ed. Henry Pleasants (New and, on the other, the first of the double
York, 1988), p. 159. themes-i.e., the succession of those three notes

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 Allegro non troppo GISELHER
SCHUBERT
The Sympho
P TII
I'I
" '
d
I ? iI Ir i , in Brahms
.A . . , , 1 1 . . , . - .. . ,
, . .. I I
t " ? , 1?--P

Example 4: Brahms, Symphony

cance of thematic events.

with varying conclusions thatAnd this functional
depend on
context-is used independently
significance is expressed above allof
in termsthe
of sec
main theme as, fororchestral
instance, color, seen particularly,
in the to name two
transit
instances, in the first
to the second theme group (mm. 19-23) and main theme as it develops
out of an initially
concluding group (mm. scarcely perceivable
49-50).20 It melodic
is chara
fragment
istic that Brahms-for the in thefirst
flute, and intime
the bass accompa-
in his s
phonies-now shapes extended passages of
niment to an expressive and intense horn melody
development sectionin the heart
with of the development
the section.
second th
(mm. 77-100) and at In the
theFourth core
Symphony,of op. 98 the
(1885), dev
ment (mm. 101-11) Brahms appears to have abandoned
transforms the the three
theme to an expressive, bithematic structure of the first movement's
autonomous melo
which brings in its main theme;
wake in reality
a he introduces a
unison versio
the second main theme. Thus,
diastematic structural principleitwith is only a
the main
heart of the movement theme: the famousthatsuccessionBrahms
of thirds, which ent
reveals the bithematic structure of the main lays out first the harmonic, then the melodic,
theme. He then develops the second mainminor scale "in the manner of a diatonic row."21
theme in the coda. Although the compositionalThe musical course of events necessitates that
a distinction be made between manifest theme
display in the Third Symphony-i.e., the tech-
and latent structural principle. The main theme
niques of motivic-thematic mediation, motivic-
thematic development of accompanimental
retains its identity even without the chain of
thirds, and, vice versa, the succession of thirds
figures, and counterpoint--may well seem re-
duced in contrast with the preceding sympho-enters on thematic formulations that have no
nies, the musical processes are actually more connection with the main theme (ex. 4).
complicated, more mysterious, as it were-at The significance of Brahms's approach in the
any rate more impenetrable. It is typical that first movement of the Fourth Symphony be-
this by no means leads to an intensification orcomes apparent from a comparison with the
augmentation of orchestral means for purposesother symphonies. In the First, the musical
of balance. On the contrary, Brahms treats theprocess is initiated by a double theme immedi-
orchestra like a chamber ensemble, that is,ately recognizable as such. In the Second, both
soloistically; the temporal dimensions of the double themes are motivically related; Brahms
work are likewise contracted. reduces the motivic substance of the first move-
Clearly the reduction of orchestral means and ment and heightens the degree of technical
temporal dimensions is related to a changed manipulation and the processes of thematic
thematic concept, which now, instead of being mediation. In the Third, the first double theme
made outwardly manifest in a dynamic formal has the character of something "protothe-
process, subtly shapes the functional signifi-

21Horst Weber, "Melancholia: Versuch iiber Brahms'

Vierte," in Neue Musik und Tradition: Festschrift Rudolf
20The intervallic structure of the concluding group can be Stephan zum 65. Geburtstag, ed. Josef Kuckertz et al.
derived in its entirety from the first main theme. (Laaber, 1990), p. 282.

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 19TH matic," 22 which only acquires concrete thematicthe exposition, the coda, a variation of the main
CENTURY
MUSIC significance in the course of musical events. theme.
In At the same time, each theme group is
the Fourth, there is no bithematicism, but given
theits particular instrumental color, and,
main theme introduces a "subthematic" struc- along with the variational unfolding of the form,
tural principle-the chain of thirds. In contrastthe orchestra likewise unfolds. As a matter of
to something "protothematic," which can at fact, many variational procedures are primarily
any time be functionally transformed into some- defined by the instrumental means, whether in
thing thematic, the "subthematic," according the figurational introduction of the main theme
to Dahlhaus, who introduced this analytic con-and its dispersion among various instruments,
the instrumental shadings of the accom-
cept, is fundamentally abstract and latent.23 The
"subthematic" is a "diastematic structure," panimental figures, the instrumental-specific
which, independent of rhythm and meter, "suf- thematic characters (above all of the first theme
fuses the composition and binds its componentof the second group), the pronounced statement
parts from the inside." In the first two sympho-of the second theme of the second group in
nies, the connection between all themes is al- the high strings, or in general the intentional
ways recognizable; in the Third Symphony oneaugmentation of the orchestral tutti and the
can no longer speak of thematic connection; inintroduction of new instrumental colors. This
multiplicity of orchestral textures is a direct
the Fourth, on the other hand, it is not perceiv-
able but operates at the core of thematic forma-consequence of the multiplicity of thematic
tion. The subthematic chain of thirds24 defines groups and their variational unfolding. In other
the Fortspinnung portion of the main theme words, it is likewise the result of composi-
section, completely undergirds the first theme tional, formal means.
of the second group, characterizes the
accompanimental figure of the second theme V

of the second group, and beyond that migrates With reference to his chamber music (up to
through various episodic formal sections. the Third String Quartet, op. 67), the composi-
tional procedures that Brahms employs in his
Naturally the development and sublimation
of bithematicism through protothematicism tosymphonies can be seen as the complication
subthematicism alter the character of the so- (First Symphony), intensification (Second Sym-
nata-allegro form. On the one hand, Brahms phony), differentiation (Third Symphony), and
conceived the first movement of the Fourth sublimation (Fourth Symphony) of motivic-the-
Symphony as the thematically richest among matic techniques, which remain bound to the
dimensions of the orchestral texture and em-
all his symphonies; on the other hand, he re-
nounced techniques of obvious thematic con-phatically integrate the succession of four move-
nection. Instead, he granted formal autonomy
ments in a cyclic manner. Only occasionally did
to the thematic groups of the exposition-that
Brahms address the topic of those motivic-the-
is, the main theme, the Fortspinnung and tran- matic techniques, which he, more than any other
sition sections, the second theme area with itsnineteenth-century composer, developed. In a
two themes, the second theme episode, as well letter of February 1869 to Schubring, he wrote:
as the concluding group-and developed them
through variation so that the development sec- When I read your last essay ... I could only smile and
tion and recapitulation represent variations ofthink: you certainly applied your theory of motivic
exploitation and transformation very timidly.
Just a few brief words about that. I disagree that in
the third movement [from The German Requiem]
22The term "protothematic" (vorthematisch) is taken fromthe themes of the different sections are meant to
Rudolf Stephan, Gustav Mahler: II. Symphonie c-Moll,
vol. 21, Meisterwerke der Musik (Munich, 1979), p. 27. have something in common. ... If it is nevertheless
23Dahlhaus, Ludwig van Beethoven, p. 205. so (I deliberately call back nothing from my memory)
24See the detailed discussion in Weber, "Melancholia"; re-
I want no praise for it, but do confess that when I am
garding the form of the first movement, see also Michael
working, my thoughts do not fly far enough away,
Midckelmann, Johannes Brahms: IV. Symphonie e-Moll op.
98, vol. 56, Meisterwerke der Musik (Munich, 1991), pp.and thus unintentionally come back, often with the
31-49. same idea.

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 Yet if I want to retain the same idea, then it set limits to the analysis of motivic-thematic
GISELHER
SCHUBERT
should be clearly recognized in each transformation, connections, which have expanded, in the handsThe Symphon
augmentation, inversion. The other way would be a of some theorists for whom basically all themes in Brahms
trivial game and always a sign of the most impover- are motivically derived, to the point of mania.27
ished invention.25
Thematic connections are questionable wher-
ever the function of that motivic-thematic con-
Brahms thus makes a point of saying that thenection remains undefined.
customary descriptions of "motivic exploita- Substance and function of motivic-thematic
tion and transformation," such as are employed
connections are also given central importance
by Schubring, do not even approach the subtlety
in two influential theories of composition from
of which he was capable ("you certainly ap-
the turn of the century: D'Indy's theory of the
plied your theory of motivic exploitation and
"sonate cyclique" and Schoenberg's concept of
transformation very timidly").26 Second, he al-
musical "logic." Characteristically, both theo-
lows for the possibility that motives "have
ries indirectly touch on problems of genre,
something in common" without being meant
which help define the question of the sym-
to have "something in common." According to
phonic in Brahms.
this, he differentiates between substance and
According to D'Indy, it is particularly mo-
function of motives, and he himself empha-tives and themes in multimovement works that
sizes the function. Third, Brahms assesses in-
create cyclic features; he applies the term
tended and unintended relationships: the in-
"sonate cyclique" only to those instrumental
tended relationships are regarded as structural; works in which the motivic-thematic relation-
the unintended ones have inadvertently "slipped
ships between movements are especially
in," possess no recognizable function, and are
dense.28 At the same time, the concept of
regarded as a sign of creative weakness. Fourth,
"sonate cyclique" goes so far as to embrace the
Brahms regards "motivic exploitation and trans-
telos of historical development, and the degree
formation" for its own sake as "trivial game," of motivic-thematic coherence between move-
no more than "impoverished invention." Ac-
ments is for him an indication of the composi-
cordingly, it is important not only to recognize
tional niveau, regardless of genre, indeed, re-
"motivic exploitation and transformation,"
gardless of whether the music is absolute or
which can be very subtle, but also to determine
programmatic. Since, however, D'Indy speaks
its function. With this statement, Brahms has
of a "theme-personnage,'"29 even those works
conceived absolutely are thus given latent pro-
grammatic dimensions; at any rate, as
25"Als ich Deinen letzten Aufsatz las . . . habe ich mir
"personnage" they suggest musical connections
lichelnd denken miissen: Du habest Deine Theorie von
der Ausbildung und Umformung der Motive nur sehr that correspond-however this is mediated-to
schiichtern angewandt. the social life of humans.
"Wenige eilige und fliichtige Worte davon. Ich streite,
daff in Nr. 3 [aus Das deutsche Requiem] die Themen der
verschiedenen Satze etwas miteinander gemein haben
sollen. ... Ist es nun doch so (ich rufe mir absichtlich 27See, for instance, the analysis of thematic relationships
nichts ins Gedichtnis zurtick): So will ich kein Lob dafuir,as Rudolf Klein has traced them with his own idiosyn-
sondern bekennen, daBf meine Gedanken beim Arbeiten cratic virtuosity (Das Symphoniekonzert: Ein Stilfdihrer
nicht weit genug fliegen, also unabsichtlich 6fter mitdurch das Konzertrepertoire [Vienna, 1971], pp. 152-54).
demselben zuriickkommen. According to Klein, the second theme in the first move-
"Will ich jedoch dieselbe Idee beibehalten, so soll man ment of the Third Symphony, for instance, which in this
sie schon in jeder Verwandlung, Vergri6ferung, Umkehrung article is described and regarded as entirely unprepared,
deutlich erkennen. Das andere wire schlimme Spielerei has as its "model" a "transposition" of the "second theme
und immer ein Zeichen armseligster Erfindung" (Johannes of the fourth movement" (p. 157). What is questionable
Brahms: Briefe an Joseph Viktor Widmann, Ellen und here is not so much whether the derivation makes sense
Ferdinand Vetter, Adolf Schubring, ed. Max Kalbeck, but rather what it means aesthetically. (Moreover, in his
Johannes Brahms: Briefwechsel, vol. VIII [Berlin, 1915], ex. p. 26 to the Third Symphony, Klein erroneously notates
216; adapted from the trans. in Walter Frisch, Brahms and
the first note as a cl instead of an fl, for which reason all
the Principle of Developing Variation [Berkeley and Los of his further remarks are incorrect.)
Angeles, 1984], pp. 31-32). 28Vincent D'Indy, Cours de Composition Musicale, vol. II,
26For an interpretation of this quotation, see also Frisch,
pt. 1 (Paris, n.d [1909]), p. 375.
Brahms and Developing Variation, pp. 30-32. 29Ibid., II, 377.

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 19TH At the core of D'Indy's reflections are those of that thematically saturated initial
tradition
CENTURY
MUSIC aspects of form and content resulting from
constellation that had been developed histori-
motivic-thematic integration spanning cally
all ofand
a that "anticipates" an extraordinarily
work's movements, aspects that are manifest
diverse, complex "continual transformation of
as such, define the character of a work,
a basicand
shape"-namely, the double-thematic
present music as a "fait sociale." Schoenberg,
opening of the first movement of Brahms's sym-
on the other hand, identifies motivic-thematic
phonies. In the String Quartet, op. 7, the first
violinas
techniques on a more fundamental level and cello introduce a double theme,32
musical "logic" pure and simple. both elements of which are thoroughly devel-
In his 1911 essay draft "Das Komponieren
oped, together and separately, and to which is
added
mit selbstdndigen Stimmen" (Composition a motivically significant subsidiary voice
with
in the mo-
Independent Voices), he writes: "So-called viola. According to a statement by
Adorno,
tivic development corresponds to our logic, Schoenberg apparently insisted on the
but
there are still other possibilities." 30Certainly
"immediate identity" of symphonic and cham-
the emphasis in this formulation is ber still on In this string quartet, he transfers
music.33
a compositional technique Brahms had devel-
"our" logic (where it remains open whether
the "our" refers to Schoenberg himself, the
oped for orchestra into the genre of chamber
Viennese tradition, or the tradition of music;34
middle- just as had Brahms, Schoenberg in his
European music in general). Schoenberg orchestral
ex- music intensifies the "polyphonous
combinations"
pressly concedes "other possibilities," among of the chamber music still fur-
ther so as to employ the orchestral apparatus as
them presumably harmonic-tonal, melodic-con-
a compositional
trapuntal, rhythmic-metrical, coloristic, or the means.35 In this process, ques-
appropriation of traditional models, tions
texts,of or
musical genre are reduced to the spe-
cific elaboration of the fundamental contribu-
programs; but he himself usually described
"motivic" work as "logic." In 1931, intions
a frag-
to be made in each case by musical "logic,"
"coherence," and "continuity."
ment on "linear counterpoint," he stated:
Although this process naturally changes the
"Whatever happens in a piece of music is nothing
character or Habitus of the genres, it does not
more but the endless reshaping of a basic shape." Or,
thereby destroy them altogether. When Paul
in other words, there is nothing in a piece of music
Bekker
but what comes from the theme, springs from it and
characterized Brahms's symphonies as
"monumentalized
can be traced back to it; to put it still more severely, chamber music,"36 he pre-
nothing but the theme itself. Or, all the shapes ap-
pearing in a piece of music are foreseen in the
theme.31
32Strangely enough the bithematic structure has until now
It is consistent therefore that in his First scarcely been given its due in analyses; the concept plays
no role for instance in Heinrich Helge Hattesen's compre-
String Quartet, op. 7, Schoenberg continues the
hensive study, Emanzipation durch Aneignung: Unter-
suchungen zu den friihen Streichquartetten Arnold
Sch6nbergs, vol. 33, Kieler Schriften zur Musikwissenschaft
(Kassel, 1990), pp. 191-313; see, however, the penetrating
analysis of the Third String Quartet in Dahlhaus, "Arnold
30"Die sogenannte motivische Arbeit entspricht unsererSch6nberg: Drittes Streichquartett, op. 30," Melos 50 (1988),
Logik (Nachweis), aber es gibt noch andere M6glichkeiten32-53.

(Nachweis)" (Rudolf Stephan, "Sch6nbergs Entwurf fiber 33Theodor W. Adorno, Introduction to the Sociology of
'Das Komponieren mit selbstindigen Stimmen," Archiv Music, trans. E. B. Ashton (New York, 1976), p. 93.
fir Musikwissenschaft 29 [1972], 247). Not surprisingly,34Adorno's statement that Schoenberg had "chose[n] the
incidentally, it was Adolf Schubring who seems to haveobligatory Brahmsian quartet structure for his model" (So-
been the first to formulate the idea that "musical logicciology, p. 92) is not based on compositional insight.
35Ibid., p. 93. Adorno's references in connection with
resides in thematic manipulation" (thematische Arbeit ist
Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony, op. 9, to "the tendency
die Logik der Musik), see Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung
3 (1868), 49; see also Meurs, Neue Bahnen? Aspekte derof classicist Viennese symphonies" (p. 98) and to the "po-
Brahms-Rezeption 1853-1868 (Ph.D. diss., Berlin Freielyphony" in the development section-why not in the
Universitit, 1992), pp. 267-69. exposition or recapitulation as well-are questionable.
31Arnold Schoenberg, "Linear Counterpoint," in Style and 36Paul Bekker, Die Sinfonie von Beethoven bis Mahler (Ber-
Idea, ed. Leonard Stein, trans. Leo Black (Berkeley and Los
lin, 1918), p. 27. With regard to the content of the two first
Angeles, 1984), p. 290. symphonies, see also Brinkmann, Johannes Brahms, pp.

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sumably did not mean that Brahms simply ap- his chamber music. More to the point, the anal- GISELHER
SCHUBERT
plied chamber music techniques on a larger ogy between chamber and symphonic music in The Sympho
and temporally expanded scale; for it is undeni- Brahms's ceuvre reveals itself on an entirely
in Brahms

able that Brahms developed chamber music different level. Giilke compared the transition
techniques in a genre-specific way by intensi-from chamber to symphonic music in
fying, complicating, and differentiating them Beethoven's works with a change of musical
and by adapting them with the dimensions ofrhetoric that turned from the discursive to the
the orchestral texture. Perhaps one could say demagogic.37 Brahms, by contrast, deflects the
that Brahms shaped his symphonies with thedemagogy of the symphony back into O
same musical philosophy that was operative in the discursive. 4)

19-23. Brinkmann's discussion of the finale of the First "alphorn quotation" as "nature-metaphor." He therefore
Symphony is questionable. First, it is by no means arguesthe for a tripartite sonata-allegro form with an unusual
case that, in the finale, the "freedom-theme" is transformed
recapitulation beginning with the entrance of the "alphorn
into the "nature-metaphor," for it is the "chorale" quotation."
one Those who emphasize the "inner" unity of
morality, nature, and religion in the finale of the First
hears last; moreover, the stretto is motivically derived from
the "freedom-theme." The "object" of the musical pro-
Symphony would emphasize the bipartite nature of the
sonata-allegro form, which Brinkmann inexplicably calls
cesses surely is rather the (inner) unity of "freedom-theme,"
"textbooklike" (schulbuchmiissig). His assertion that "de-
"nature-metaphor," and "chorale," in other words, of mo-
scribing a developmentless sonata movement is a contra-
rality, nature, and religion. Second, Brinkmann unfortu-
nately does not discuss in a fundamental way the formal
diction in terms" (Ansetzung eines durchffihrungslosen
problem of sonata-allegro form: whether it is to be Sonatensatzes
re- ein Widerspruch in sich [sei]) is not con-
vincing:
garded as bi- or tripartite. His formal analysis (p. 23) is D'Indy spoke of a "sonate sans d6veloppement"
(D'Indy, Cours de Composition, p. 417).
motivated above all by the attempt to emphasize the "the-
matic transformation" of the "freedom-theme" into the 37Giilke, "Zur Bestimmung des Sinfonischen," p. 87.

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