PREFACE GENESIS Johannes Brahms wrote the two Raps op. in the early summer of bin Poth as ear sce In ate une he sent the manuscript fom thee to Viena this ren the surgeon Theta hs asking hie t forward i wih pete hse” copyist Fans Hlowacrek.Bfae ding so oneves Birth tok aft oka the ew we aed oe toBrahins on 2 une [the decipherment today, the two piano pices imme- dlintely captivated me. Thope you will give me perms. son 10 also have a copy made for mysel. Hlawacrek ‘ills you the ftst ene as soon as possible is ther, ‘wise to cruel to show me something like that and take away again immediatly. The second piece seul cor tainly bear the ile “Ballade” There is something of Ed ward int? In is answer, Balms linked the permision for the desire private copy with the rematk "you will at rally not let something lke this out of your hands He sent the pieces to Clara Schumann in early July withthe same warning: Enclosed ae two plano pieces on which you can le ff steam if they please you pass- ably [..J!Tremind and request that you do ot give any ofthe things ou of your hands" The background ofthe repeated warning to not pass on the pices ‘was Bah’ usual manner of working in which the commiting to paper was merely the fist step of com- Posing, a process that was concluded only with the publication ater revisions and corections. Claas ation was rather nor-committal: “T must frst study the two [piano pees. think, for mei wil he like most of the other piano pieces fo. 76, wich | {only gradually became fond of”? Until the following winter, Brahms played the Rhapsodies (till under the ttle “Klavierstcke” or “Capries” respectively in a number of concerts but apparently dd not work any further on them. His pub: 1 Attod Ors “Ein eigeningiges Werkverrichnis on Johan es aha” Di Mast 398 G98 p39 2 Bit wal Br i Bf el Oo GoteBlkth (tin an ie sh. Gr Shuma — oh Bs, Brie ade Jen 2855- v6. Berth Laman, vol 3 pag 7k Rr 3h. po {6 Renate and Kurt Homann: oor Brea: Plant wd got tang 206) pt lisher Fitz Simock admonished him on 19 December: “Piano pieces that appeared after op. 76? have repeat ‘edly been requested from Hamburg. Indeed, if you would only send them!” Before Brahme fulfilled this Wish, the prospective dedicatee, Elisabeth von Her- zogenberg, was frst to receive a copy’ at the begin hing of February 188 Unlike Clara Schuman, she ‘emphasized the immediate accessibility ofthe works and “greeted them like old friends. It is hard to be- lee that there was ever atime when I didnot know them, 50 quickly does the barely acquired treasure become incorporated with the accumulation of long standing. Once known and loved, it Is a possession forall time:"™ Brahms finally sent the two piano pieces (together ‘with the third and fourth books of Hungerint Dances ‘WoO 1) to Simrock on 23 May 2880, At the same time, hhe announced the dedication to Elisabeth von Herzo- sgenberg and made suggestions, with his typical com- bination of selFirony and seltassurance, forthe hono- "ariume "Thought about 1000 Taer for each Hungarian ‘book and fr the excellent piano pices abit more than forthe previous miserable ones [op. 76], thus about 200 ~ piece: Pethaps you will round off the matter ta 2500 toler ~ perhaps more or les - the floor is yours! Ding.a-ling!”® Simrock accepted the suggestion” and ‘issued both works already barely a month and a half Tater, Sill during the printing process, Brahms con- tinued to give thought to an appropriate title and also consulted with Elisabeth von Herzogenberg. She ac- cepted his suggestion, "Rhapsodies” only with reser In which case the name Rlupolies s the best, I expec, though the cleay-efined form of Both pieces seems somewhat at variance with one's conception of 9 thap- soy. Batts practically a characteristic of these design tions that they have lost ther true characteristic applies tion, so that they can be usd fortis or that a wil with ‘ut any qualms] ~ Weeome then, e (os) nameless ‘ones in your nebulous garb of thapsnis!” 7 homes Bs wa Fs Sic Wie cer Framdschh ‘art teptensen Hamburg 1960p shoes Bins The rene Conopondn el Max Ka ‘eck alate by Hannah Bye (Lindon eh pas 3 foes Bras, Bra) Sika os Sele Max ateck eprint Tuamg wr vl pp 48 10 Bo dF vin‘THE MUSIC {mn Greek antiquity, “Rhapsody” ~ a composite of the Greek “raptein” (ew, pateh) and “ode (chant) ~ des- Jgnated the recitation of Homeric epics with impro= ‘vised links. Starting in the sixteenth century the term was employed in literature for texts that are “formed ‘by means of the juxtaposition and coupling of differ= lent materials” and in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries also for their occasional musical settings From the beginning ofthe nineteenth century, im in- strumental mus, the tile became established for se ‘ious and powerful pises apart from the snata form, Intally ~ in those by Viclav Jan Keitel Tomsek and his pupil Jan Vielay Vorisek ~ primarily in tripartite ‘song, formy then i the nineteenth century ~ above all in Lisa's Hungarian Rhapsodies ~ formally unbound ‘rin foey flowing sequences! {As Elisabeth von Herzogenberg already remarked (Gee above} with his op.79, Brahms did not take wp the ‘thread of the latter development, but combined “thap- odie” serious expression and powerful boaring with Strict formal treatment and consistent inner structur- Ing. These works also lack the national musical orien tation of Liszt’ Hangarime Rhapsoies and Rhapsie esjugnole or Dvokdk’s Slasoic Rhapsdis op. 45- Their “shapsodic” character shows itself if anything in the searching harmonies that are unstable over longer stretches in the First Rhapsody, after the beginning ‘on the dominant the tonic B minor is only touched lightly in measures 24, then immediately abandoned bby means of modulations to D minor, F minor, and Fshagp minor. tthe frst “eaesura" (m1 the tonic isseemingly reached with F-sharp minor / Fsharp ms jor, which however actually only functions a a pivotal dominant. This ostensibly accidental, improvisational character sands opposite a dense web of motivic~ thematic interconnections: the augmented triad fdas ofthe beginning for example already encounters in the first measure in the left hand the diminished triad b-g¢-e¢~a motif that i subsequently repeatedly var- {ed upto the climax in measures 1/2: the triplet fig- ‘ure of the first measure retumns in augmentation in ‘measures 13/4; the chromatically descending mile ‘voice ofthe first three measures develops nto the up- per voice of measures 18-20 etc. The combination of 12 Gted after ois Wiser “Rp” Hamrick der ‘schon Fema ater Hans Hench Epp eA eect Rahul srs 35 Stat Suet Sy) Ag vin sweeping, —_ ae fea St mein ac fm De tt a es caput he Fen inert we ary Sard Ri fener perpen ira ee agin a tae Se a eee ee eee eee ee feo epee hele i eee tosis th Poa paar aay taney cmos cpt Bare aera op acct bres aes eeclean oa cones fe a taj tonee ae eat apa aes aecmee a PERFORMANCE PRACTICE The described relationship of tension betwen formal and motivicthemati severity and the sweeping, sem Ingly improvised harmonic freedom presents the per former wit dificult decisions with regard to weight ing and balance, in particular in questions of temps ‘According to unanimous contemporary repots the flexible treatment of tempo within a perceptible bsc pulse belonged tothe artistic matters ofcourse of the Brahms citcle. The critic and musicologist John Ale ander Fuller Maitland described the violin plying of Brahms friend Joseph Joachim thus:The moulding of his phrases 1 consists of ight mode Scatons ofthe srt metronomic vale ofthe notes | ‘lasts’ the word which best expreses the effet of his dtivery 58 ima perfect rubato there i een, of resilience, of rebound, in the sequence of the noten, «constant and periect restoration of halance between pres ‘sure and resistance taking place, as an inarubber bal ‘esumes its original shape ater being pressed” ‘Brafims himself wrote in 2866 to Joachim about con- ducting his own works: “In that case, [often cannot do enough with urging on and constraining #9 ap- proximately achieve the passionate or peaceful expres. sion that I want”" The English pianist Fanny Davies, ‘who heard Brahms between the years 1884 and 1896, temphazised pasticulatly the significance of the short <> hairpins: “The sign <>, as used by Brahms, ‘often occurs when he wishes to express great since. ity and warmth, allied not only to fone but to rythm also. He would linger not on one note alone, but on 8 whole idea, as if unable to tear himself away from its beauty" (On the other hand, the conductor and composer Richard Barth remembered Brahms stating during a rehearsal thatthe the unity of the tempo could never bbe questioned” and rejected ll prominent expansion for acceleration in places where it was not indicated” ‘This also corresponds to numerous cantemporary de- seriptions of Joseph Joachia’s playing, according to ‘which his rubato was moderate and subtle. However, if one listens today to his recordings ofthe first two Hungarian Dances or even of his oven Romance in ‘C major, one notices many very conspicuous tempo changes that are not indicated in the musical text. “The perception ofa “subtie” or “conspicuous” rubsto is obviously subject to the historical change of the respective prevailing taste and typical custom ofthe time. Today's performers should therefore always bear in mind that the use of historically transmitted means ‘does not automatically result in the historically de- seribed effet 13 fh Anand Fler Mata: oc hin London and Now Yrk yp tated in Clive Brow Geel Bos ‘a Tertormane Pcie” Bah oman Pte rae Canter Muse / Aurenche Hoe toh frente Kael ea edie hp (OA eo 1 foes Bas raged math ac eA {5 George Brat ony Dis nd Bs’ Late hte usc” Pong Brahe Eoty Ende of Perm Se Mich! Mgrve and Berard D. Sherman (Cambre Ure iy Psy sont pp 3 Te Kare Hota anes Ean don Erg 20 Bi hed Bott ambury, mp 3 che in Cle Bowe “Ep Iague” Brae Pepe Prati Ge ae PPI In adaition to rubat, this is also true of other tech- niques such as the sight temporal displacement of the bass and melody notes that was widespread in Brahms’s time or the not notated arpeggiation of chords tain tonal effects or to emphasize important voices or chords, whose employment i lef to the taste and personal style ofthe performer. Even if aepeggiation without explicit indication was a widespread prac- tice Brahms carefully differentiated between arpeg- sialed and unarpeggiated chords in the notation of the Rhapsodies, for example in measures 20-2 and 24-6 of the Second Rhapsody in wich each time an arpeggio atthe end of the measure leads smoothly Into the following, measure Inthe case of the pedal, the interpretational free dom is already indicated in the print in the Rhapso~ ies, too, Brahms notated its use either not at all only sweepingly “Ped” without subsequent release indica- tion, in a general way with “col Ped” Only in a {few passages of the B-minor Rhapsody did he specify pedal usage more precisely with measure by meas- "re changes (mum. 43-5) or release marks (m. 126) But leven here, the indications are not absolute require- ments, but rather to be understood as the conveyance ‘of atonal ide, for the realization of which it could possibly be necessary, for example, to work with a hualf pedal change (above all atthe chromatic transi- tioas in me. 43h) ‘The dynamic scale in op. 79 ranges from pry tof supplemented by accents, fpf, and ii f indications. ‘The fis demanded only a afew climanes (including at m, 60 of the Fist Rhapsody), at extreme contrasts {onm. 59 and 62 of the Second Rhapsody), or occasion ally even disallowed after a preceding intensification (anm. 8-1 of the B-minor Rhapsody, where the ces actually ought to lead to a higher dynamic level) Mote consistently than the actual ranges of dynamics, ‘Brahms notated complementary tonal and expressive markings, such as mez ror, doe, esprsson, legge, ‘etc: they indicate distant harmonies, particularly ex- pressive motifs or atmospheric tonal effects, and could ‘also have implications for the tempa. Moreover, e= pecially at sotto oF mezsa rece, the use ofthe una conta pedal suggests itself in order to attain atonal ditfer- ‘entiation in adlton to the dynamics. Ina footnote to the second movement ofthe G-minor Piano Quartet, Both can bea suitable means to achieve cer‘op. 25, Brahms wrote: “The frequent usage of the sft ‘peal [i eft tothe discretion of the player" ‘Brahms dispensed almost entirely with fingerings in op. 79: the few exceptions are indicated ty italics in the present edition, All other fingerings are by the ‘editor, but are only suggestions and cannot replace ‘one’s oven deliberations and experimentation. NOTES ON THE EDITION ‘As with most of his works, Brahms also carefully re= ‘worked and corrected the Rhapsodies op. 79 between the transcription of the autograph and the printing. From this production process, only the manuscript engravers copy by Franz Hlawacze, the first sition from July 2880, and Brahm’s copy of this print with two handwritten annotations have been preserved ‘On the other hand, the autograph as well as further copies by Hlawaczek for Theodor Billoth, Clara Sch rmann, and Elisabeth von Herzogenberg are lost. An ‘examination of the engravers copy in the achive of the Gesellschaft der Masikfreunde in Vienna was not permitted, for which reason source K yas evaluated 19 anne Beaks Kerra op. 35am, 86 p20 x ee ~ fi tee te rg Se pues fart preset ton he com tarts anes the apres Sect wih he sons beng a gk Commentary: Obvious typographic on™ ht, ‘cae tha cone noe ete ‘cated by square brackets oF dashed lines "ig, ne an ma ti ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 1 would like to thank the archive ofthe der Musifreunde Wien, and in particu tor Prof De Otto Bika, for permission 8 Se composer's copy fom the legacy of Jonas Tove a special debt of gratitude to Bane se Wang, Bitenriter Verlag, who as a very cae alert editor accompanied the project ty fn phases, YOON a eto, My Christian ae Hower Woes (translated by Hes 20 Sees