ExclusiveBrahms: Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90 - III. Poco allegretto

【Classical music and nature 古典音樂小站】Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90 - III. Poco allegretto. This beautiful piece was played by Musopen Symphony. It has creative commons license (Public Domain Mark 1.0 Universal), and is provided through musopen.org.

Brahms biographer Max Kalbeck reports that at the premiere, Bruckner and Wagner supporters began to hiss after each movement, but were unable to prevail:

“At the premiere of the Symphony in F major, which took place on 2 December 1883 at the Vienna Philharmonic Concerts, the group of Wagner-Bruckner ecclesia militans stationed in the standing area of the Musikverein hall made their first public attack on Brahms. Their hissing always waited until the applause had died down after each movement before demonstratively breaking out. But the audience was so deeply moved by the magnificent work that not only was the opposition drowned out by the applause, but the tributes to the composer reached a level of enthusiasm hardly ever seen before in Vienna, so that Brahms experienced one of his greatest triumphs.”

The work was received positively in most, but not all, contemporary performances. An example of a positive contemporary review (report on the premiere on 2 January 1884 in Signale für die musikalische Welt):

"The second philharmonic concert featured Brahms' latest symphony as its main number, which was received with unusual applause. After the first, third and final movements, the composer was repeatedly called back to thunderous and jubilant applause. This highly interesting work is well-rounded, clear and comprehensible even on first hearing, rich in surprising twists and turns, captivating in its development of the main and secondary themes, and particularly beautiful in its instrumentation. The dramatic first movement is followed by the two shorter middle movements (the third being a kind of intermezzo), after which the final movement takes up the main character of the first again. This time, however, it moves forward like sheet lightning with sharper, more dashing accents, a journey through agitated elements that collide with each other with elemental force in places. Suddenly, the threatening clouds part and a transfigured distant image opens up amid an enchanting finale. Thus, this magnificent work, which clearly sprang from a creative urge, comes to a conciliatory conclusion. At times, the power of Beethoven and the romanticism of Schumann and Mendelssohn emerge, but without detracting from the composer's own independence. If there were one wish left, it would be that the two middle movements were less uniform in character. The performance under Richter's baton was so masterful that the work could hardly be better experienced anywhere else.”

The video was shot by either Christian or Simone Schlegel (we honestly don't remember who) and edited by Wenjing Ma.



#classicalmusic, #Music, #古典音樂, #klassischemusik, #GJWexclusive, #Switzerland, #Schweiz, #Natur, #Nature, #KlassischeMusikundNatur, #ClassicalMusicAndNature, #古典音樂小站,