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Alto Rhapsody

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

BrahmsAlto Rhapsody Opus 53 was written in 1869, and was presented to Clara Schumann

on the day of her daughters marriage. Clara wrote in her diary:

Johannes brought me a wonderful piece... the words from GoethesHarzreise, for alto, malechorus, and orchestra. He called it his bridal song. It is long since I remember being somoved by a depth of pain in words and music. This piece seems to me neither more nor lessthan the expression of his own hearts anguish. If only he would for once speak as tenderly!1

Brahms had certainly harboured an affection for Claras daughter Julie, although his

attachment to her mother both pre-dated and outlived any feelings he may have had for Julie.

Nevertheless, Julies engagement and subsequent marriage upset him deeply, destined as he was to

live always outside the Schumann family to which he was so devoted.

Brahms had come across Goethes Harzreise im Winter (Winter Journey in the Harz) in a

setting by Johann Friedrich Rechardt (1752-1814). Reichardt had set a portion of the poem, which

he entitled Rhapsody, in a song collection. Brahms was taken with the fragment of the poem, and

resolved to set the words in the larger context of a cantata for a solo voice, male chorus and

orchestra. Brahms followed Reichardt not just in the choice of title, but also in the choice of key (C

minor) and in the meter of the opening section: 4/4 moving into 6/4. But here the similarity ends -

unlike Reichardts song, BrahmsAlto Rhapsody is conceived on a much larger scale, as a work in

three sections: an opening recitative in declamatory style, an aria and a final section for solo voice,

chorus and orchestra. In this it is more like an operaticscena, or a cantata.

TheAlto Rhapsody has become one of Brahms most famous works, and was the first of four

short orchestral/choral pieces including the Schicksalied,Nanie and Gesang der Parzen. Brahms

had much opportunity to write for chorus as conductor of the choir of the court at Detmold from

1857 to 1859, and of the Hamburg Frauenchor from 1857 to 1861. His cantataRinaldo, completed

1 Diary entry, September 22, 1869, quoted in Malcolm MacDonald, Master Musicians: Brahms(Oxford:Oxford University Press, 2001), 140


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the same year, had afforded him the opportunity to use a male chorus with orchestra and tenor solo.

More significantly, he had completed his German Requiem in 1868, and here he showed his

mastery of all choral forms. TheRequiem sets the stylistic tone for the choral/orchestral works that

followed. Brahms historical scholarship is evident from the diversity of styles used in theRequiem

- from homophonic to fugal, declamatory to motivic. Similar techniques are used masterfully in the

Rhapsody.

Goethes text

Brahms sets 22 lines of Goethes poem. The text and translation are as follows:2

Aber abseits wer ists?Ins Gebsch verliert sich sein PfadHinter ihm schlagenDie Struche zusammen,Das Gras steht wieder auf,Die de verschlingt ihn.

Ach, wer heilet die SchmerzenDes, dem Balsam zu Gift ward?Der sich MenschenhaAus der Flle der Liebe trankErst verachtet, nun ein Verchter,Zehrt er heimlich aufSeinen eigenen WertIn ungngender Selbstsucht.

Ist auf deinem Psalter,Vater der Liebe, ein TonSeinem Ohre vernehmlichSo erquicke sen Herz!ffne den umwlkten Blickber die tausend Quellen

Neben dem DurstendenIn der Wste!

But off apart there, who is that?His path gets lost in the brush

behind himthe branches close again,the grass stands straight again,the solitude swallows him up.

Ah, who can heal the painof one to whom balsam became poison?Who has drunk misanthropyfrom the fullness of love?First despised, now despising,he secretly wasteshis own worthin unsatisfying egoism.

If there is in your Psalter,Father of Love, a single tone

perceptible to his ear,then revive his heart!Open his cloud-covered sightonto the thousand fountains

beside the thirsting soulin the desert!

2 Translation given in CD sleeve notes in Brahms Alto Rhapsody, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra andChorus dir. Robert Shaw, soloist Marilyn Horne, Telarc Digital CD-80176, 1988.


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Goethe wrote the poem in response to a trip he had made to the Harz mountains in the winter

of 17773. The stanzas excerpted by Brahms refer not to Goethes personal introspection (as might

be the case in Schuberts Winterreise which it strongly resembles in content), but to an actual

acquaintance of Goethes - Alexander Plessing. In the wake of the publication ofDie Leiden des

junges Werther, Plessing had written Goethe letters of intense depression and despair, asking for

help. One of Goethes goals for the trip was to visit Plessing, to satisfy his curiosity as to his

wellbeing.

Brahms sets each of the stanzas differently - the first stanza is set as a recitative, the second

forms the text of the aria, and the third stanza provides the text for the final chorus. Brahms

chooses to give certain of the words special emphasis - lines 4 to 8 of both the second and third

stanzas are treated as da capo repetitions in their respective sections, and other words are repeated

to extend musical phrases as dictated by the impulses of the music. For Brahms, the music had a

more important role than the text.

Form of the Alto Rhapsody

In broad terms, theRhapsody may be seen as a journey from C minor to C major, transmuting

the pain and despair of lost love into the hope of divine comfort. Brahms uses conservative

orchestral forces - flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassons, horns, and strings - timpani and trumpets are

noticeably absent.

The orchestral ritornello of the first section begins on a striking leading tone by the low

strings and bassoons - this is followed by a short motive featuring augmented chords and a

descending figure - repeated in different keys and using dissonant harmonies. The woodwinds join

3 Wallace Berry, Text and Music in the Alto Rhapsody, Journal of Music Theory, 31 no. 3 (Autumn1983): 239-265


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in at bar 7, re-establishing C minor and stating a second, yearning motive, later used by the soloist.

Two further motives are used before the singer enters - a descending passage, and a sighing

motive suggesting the figures melancholy.

The singer enters with an unaccompanied meandering melody, followed by the strings using

the leading tone motive. The text is set syllabically in 4/4 time. Orchestration is sparing in the

declamatory section, suggesting the solitary nature of the figure and the bleak landscape. The

sighing motive is found in the strings as the section descends towards a dominant chord,

announcing the arrival of the aria.

The aria begins in a slow, flowing 6/4 meter with string accompaniment. Brahms uses cross-

rhythms and hemiolas to create a peaceful yet slightly agitated atmosphere. For the third line of

text, the strings take up a syncopated rhythmic figure while the alto has an accented downward leap

on the word Menschenha. This leap is initially the interval of a seventh giving a jagged edge to

the word, which is repeated several times with the calmer interval of a fifth. Some particularly

effective word-painting is given on the words auf der Flle der Liebe trank. Brahms breaks the

line after the word Flle as if the emotion were too much for the singer, who must rally her

strength to begin the phrase again, this time punctuated with dramatic leaps of an octave on the

word aus and a twelfth on the word Flle, before coming to a gentle cadence in A flat major on

Liebe trank. A short orchestra ritornello using a winding motive completes the A section of the

aria.

The B section in this rather conventional form begins in F minor, and Brahms uses the

words rather more efficiently here, presenting the lines in a shorter time frame. At measure 77, the

temporal movement moves with faster winding notes. Another ritornello recollects the arias

opening melody and sets up an arching line that trails downward towards the A prime section -

although not a literal da capo, nevertheless following the traditional baroque form in many

structural aspects.


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The reprise uses not just the original text, but the melody and orchestration, with only subtle

changes of tonal colour and pitch. The strings recall the pulsating syncopated chords of the earlier

section and the dramatic leaps on Menschenha are repeated but with the less dissonant interval

of an octave. The aria closes with a ritornello recalling the opening melody and the winding motive

in the low strings quietens down to settle on the dominant of C.

This ushers in the final section with the male chorus, who make their first appearance in

counterpoint with the altos solo line. This section is also in da capo form, and displays more use of

counterpoint techniques than evidenced in the earlier sections. The cellos have pizzicato chords

that suggest a harp, traditionally associated with the Psalms, while the text asks Ist auf deinem

Psalter, Vater der Liebe, ein Ton....?. The accompaniment is very simple as the choir and soloist

make their first supplication, followed by an abrupt shift towards E flat minor, and bowed triplets

from the strings when the text moves to ffne den umwlkten Blick. The reprise at measure 146

uses the main melody from the choral opening with fuller accompaniment, using straight rhythm

against triplets in the string section to create a subtle sense of unease. Brahms uses fuller orchestral

accompaniment to build towards a climax at measure 167: so erquicke sein Herz which resolves

to the key of C major and changes the atmosphere to one of radiant hope. The music begins to

recede at measure 169 towards a final cadence in the voices and woodwinds, echoed by the strings

who close the piece.

Brahms is known as a composer with a deep reverence for the musical achievements of the

past, and this is evidenced in theRhapsody in the regard with which he treats form and in the

musical devices he employs. While his harmonic palette is very rich, and was criticized by his

contemporaries as being harsh and dissonant, the form and structures he employs do homage to his

musical scholarship. But it is the emotional intensity of the work - theRhapsody is a deeply

personal composition - which has secured its place in the repertoire.


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Bibliography

Berry, Wallace. Text and Music in the Alto Rhapsody, Journal of Music Theory, 31 no. 3 (Autumn 1983):239-265.

Forte, Allen. Motive and Rhythmic Contour in the Alto Rhapsody, Journal of Music Theory, 27 no.2(Autumn 1983): 255-271

Garlington, Aubrey S. Harzreise als Herzreise: Brahms Alto Rhapsody, The Musical Quarterly, 69 no. 4(Autumn 1983): 527-542.

MacDonald, Martin. Master Musicians: Brahms. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.

Musgrave, Michael. The Music of Brahms. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul plc, 1985.

Shaw, Robert. Brahms Alto RhapsodyAtlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus dir. Robert Shaw, soloistMarilyn Horne, Telarc Digital CD-80176, 1988.

Swafford, Jan. Johannes Brahms: A Biography. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1997

111115 brahms alto rhapsody

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