Johannes Brahms
Variations on a Theme by Haydn

Though by the end of his long career Johannes Brahms had successfully
created works in most of the musical forms, he was notoriously critical of
his own work, and for many years avoided writing orchestral pieces. The
popular conceit is that he did not want to compete with his idol, Beethoven,
in writing symphonies. Whatever the reason, by 1873 he had composed only
five orchestral pieces: two serenades, a piano concerto, and two choral
works with orchestra, one of which, the German Requiem, had taken him 11
years to complete. The Variations on a Theme by Haydn, published in 1873,
marked not only his first purely orchestral piece since the second Serenade
in 1860, it was a turning point for the composer.

In 1872 Brahms had turned 40, and had recently settled down as the director
of the orchestra and choir of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde (Society of
the Friends of Music) in Vienna. Two years earlier his friend C.F. Pohl, a
music historian, had introduced Brahms to a set of divertimenti for winds
then attributed to Haydn. Brahms liked the theme of the second, called the
Chorale St. Antoni, and copied the tune in his notebook. (The tune was based
on a hymn sung by pilgrims on St. Anthony’s Day, and historians now believe
the piece was possibly written by Haydn’s student Ignatz Pleyel.) Brahms
first showed a set of variations on the St. Anthony theme in two-piano form
to pianist and composer Clara Schumann, his longtime friend and supporter,
in September of 1873. Trying out a work in two-piano form was typical for
Brahms; he could play it with an accomplished pianist like Schumann, and he
needed reassurance before going to the public. He gave the orchestral
version to his publisher only two months later. The premiere in Vienna that
November was a great success, and Brahms, heartened by this reception, is
said to have gained the confidence to complete his Symphony No. 1 in C minor
three years later, in 1876.

At the time Brahms completed these variations, he had already published
several well-received sets of variations on themes of Schumann (1854),
Handel (1861), and Paganini (1862-3). But he was critical of how he and his
contemporaries handled such works, writing to violinist Joseph Joachim
in 1856:

“I sometimes ponder on variation form, and it seems to me it ought to be
more restrained, purer. Composers in the old days used to keep strictly to
the base of the theme as their real subject. Beethoven varies the melody,
harmony and rhythms so beautifully. But it seems to me that a great many
moderns … cling nervously to the melody, but we don’t handle it freely, we
don’t really make anything new out of it, we merely overload it.”

Perhaps this was in his mind when he worked on the St. Anthony variations.
Not only did it mark the turning point in his career as an orchestral
composer, it is the first set of independent variations for orchestra by any
composer. And in his inventiveness and range, Brahms was far from “clinging
nervously” to any theme.

The opening (Chorale St. Antoni) introduces the St. Anthony theme as it was
presented in the “Haydn” work, with oboes and bassoons, now supported by
strings and horns. Brahms’s orchestration evolves to include more of the
orchestra, but not in any way that “overloads” the theme: he lets us hear it
clearly in the character of its original form, so that we might appreciate
what attracted him to it in the first place. The first variation, Poco piu animato, immediately involves us in something much more: various sections of
the orchestra play pulsing notes in the chords of the theme, while two
contrapuntal moving parts play against them. This is but a taste of what’s
to come throughout the piece, as Brahms systematically changes everything
but the essential structure of the theme in each variation. The second
variation, for example, Piu vivace, changes the key to minor, syncopates the
rhythm, and gives us an insistent, dance-like movement. The following Con moto is indeed a study in motion, with a steady, ever-flowing version of the
theme weaving back and forth between sections of the orchestra and
individual instruments. Variation four, Andante con moto, transforms the
theme into a haunting minor melody over broad, slow lower strings and winds.
The fifth variation, Vivace, presents an energetic scherzo somewhat
reminiscent of Brahms’s hero Beethoven that segues immediately into a regal,
brassy second Vivace. Variation seven, Grazioso, is a gentle siciliano, a
slow 6/8 or 12/8 form associated in Brahms’s day with pastoral scenes and
romantic melancholy. The Presto non troppo of the last variation is a bit of
sleight of hand: quickly moving parts almost manage to hide the theme in
their winding melodies, with the pedal points spread out over six octaves.
But it is in the long Finale that Brahms demonstrates his prowess. For this
section is in the form of a Baroque passacaglia, with a five bar basso ostinato sounding the theme
under an ever-changing series of 17 variations that transform through a
series of harmonic and rhythmic enhancements to end in a triumphant coda and
restatement of the Chorali St. Antoni. Without a doubt, Brahms proved that
he could handle a melody “freely” and create something altogether new.

February, 2002