The Wedding Gift by Johannes Brahms
The Alt-Rhapsodie,
composed in 1869, combines an alto soloist, small orchestra and men’s chorus.
Intended as a wedding gift to Julie Schumann, daughter of Robert and Clara, its
first performance in Jena, a German town over 40 miles south of Leipzig, in
March of 1870, brought wide public acclaim for the composer.1 We
imagine, a wedding gift? This must be the Brahms version of an American
greeting card, an insight into the composer’s psyche for his thoughts about her
impending marriage and future with her beloved. Or perhaps it’s just Brahms’ idea about the
institution of marriage.
Although a
rhapsody by its very nature is free-flowing, generally without form, it is
quite possiblethat Brahms’ love of classic form pervades the piece in some manner. This possibility will be
explored. The text for the Rhapsodie comes from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Harzreise im
Winter, a poem written in December of 17772, as the poet traverses the rugged Harz mountains, the
highest mountain range in Northern Germany.3 There are three distinct sections which present the
three stanzas, gleaned from this poem by Goethe. The first adagio section begins with the small
orchestra of 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns and a full compliment of strings,
including string bass, and after a melancholy mood is established, the alto solo begins. The poco
andante second section brings alto and orchestra together immediately. The third stanza and section,
again in adagio, begins with a glorious four-part men’s chorus joining the soloist and orchestra.
Written late in Brahms’ career, the Rhapsodie has all the elements of a late Romantic piece: less
functional, more extended tonality, chromaticism, a more ambiguous meter.
2 Answers.com, whttp://www.answers.com/topic/harzreise-im-winter,
accessed June 25, 2014
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