From a photograph from life by Fr. Luckhardt, Vienna.
]
For the “Song of Triumph” Brahms selected some mysterious verses from
the Apocalypse. Of the three large numbers for double chorus, orchestra
and organ, some portions have been called direct imitations of Handel;
yet even there one finds enough of Brahms’ individuality and throughout
an intense heartiness and directness of feeling. In singing this music,
one is overwhelmed by its grandeur. The second number, more purely
Brahms’, is of particular beauty, the chorus “Let us rejoice” being
joined by a cantus firmus of the wood instruments on the choral “Now,
thank ye all the Lord!” In No. III., opened by a baritone solo, an
enthusiasm is reached in the Hallelujah surpassing any jubilant chorus
music written since the Ninth Symphony.
The “Deutsche Fest-und Gedenksprüche” have a uniform patriotic purpose.
There are again three large and most difficult numbers for double
chorus, without solo or accompaniment. No. I. refers to the battle of
Leipsic in 1813 and the regained liberty from the Napoleonic bondage
(“Our fathers hoped in thee, thou helpedst them,” etc.), and has an
imposing character of resolution and vigor. No. II., referring to the
collapse of the French in 1870, illustrates in lively contrasting colors
“a palace guarded by one strongly armed and remaining in peace” and “an
empire that falls in discord and becomes waste.” No. III. praises the
splendor of the new united empire, but warns its people “to beware and
guard thy soul well, that it shall never forget the story which thine
eyes have seen.” A deeply religious spirit also pervades this great and
but little known work.
The Rhapsody for alto solo, male chorus and orchestra treats a portion
of Goethe’s “Journey through the Hartz in Winter.” Once in 1777 the poet
left a hunting party to pay an incognito visit to a young admirer of his
genius, who was in a Wertherish despondent condition of mind. The
impression received by this adventure gave rise to one of his deepest
yet somewhat mysterious poems, which inspired Brahms to one of his
greatest works. The opening orchestral sounds touch our inmost heart;
sighs and the anguish of a trembling soul is their spirit; then the solo
voice in tones of intense feeling asks for comfort for one “who from the
fullness of love drank hate of man and in loneliness devours all that
hath worth in him.” A peculiar combination of three-two and six-four
time illustrates finely this anguish and restlessness. Gradually the
music becomes more quiet, till with a harp-like accompaniment, chorus
and soloist sing a hymn of indescribable beauty and loftiness, imploring
“the all-loving Father to enlighten the heart of the unfortunate, if but
one tone from his psalter can reach His ears.” The solo part requires a
truly inspired musician, whose voice is the instrument of his soul. The
short chorus is also a difficult task. Many times has the writer heard
this heavenly work, but never without its repetition being demanded and
given. Yet how little known it is in this country!
An extensive work for male chorus with tenor solo and orchestra is the
cantata “Rinaldo,” the text being again from Goethe. It deals with a
romantic story from Tasso’s “Jerusalem Delivered,” has partly a solemn,
partly a lively dramatic character and breathes the refreshing air of
the sea. The more or less extensive and elaborate choruses are very
different from the conventional style, the solo part is unusually
difficult and so exacting that an adequate performance is seldom
secured.
In three works Brahms has illustrated the relentlessness of Fate,
selecting poems of almost Greek grandeur and beauty. Hölderlin’s “Song
of Destiny” contrasts the blessed abode of the divine spirits with the
fate of the “restless, grief-laden mortals, who blindly wander from one
sad hour to another.” Schiller’s “Nänie” mourns “that even the Beautiful
fades and the Highest must die,” and “The Song of the Fates,” from
Goethe’s “Iphigenia,” warns the human race “to fear the gods, doubly
those whom they have exalted, for they turn from entire races the light
of their eyes.” The last work is for six, the others for four chorus
voices. Everywhere the orchestra is important, rich in weird,
characteristic effects. Bold modulations and rhythmic combinations
always in keeping with the composer’s high conception of the poetry
affect deeply ear and heart. Who but Brahms could have found music so
worthy of such profound poetical subjects! In the “Song of Destiny” he
even surpasses the poet by repeating at the end the wonderful orchestral
introduction indicating hope for our own final attainment of the abode
of the blessed spirits. The “Nänie” is dedicated to the mother of the
lamented painter Feuerbach, who had been a true art companion of Brahms.
Only a careful, sympathetic rendering will reveal the beauty of this
work. In the “Song of the Fates” there is a movement of a quiet,
melodious character, which many critics have declared to be entirely
contrary to the meaning of the text. To us it seems more like a well
justified, touching expression of pious submission, wonderfully calming
our excitement for the mysterious ending with its harmonies and
orchestral sounds never heard before.
Brighter is the character of some works belonging to a field which
Schumann had specially cultivated, yet where Brahms shows again such
originality that he has been much imitated. His delightful vocal
quartets with piano accompaniment, graceful and bright or deep and
gloomy, charm greatly by their artistic construction, beauty of thought,
feeling and sound and peculiarity of colors. Still more famous are the
two collections of Love-Song Waltzes for voices and piano for four
hands, resembling the sparkling pianoforte waltzes Op. 39, most varying
in shape and mood, the words being mainly from Daumer’s “Polydora,”
those of the fine, quiet closing movement in nine-four time being
selected from Goethe. The eleven Gipsy Songs Op. 102 are also meeting
with an enthusiastic reception, Hungarian spirit and rhythm giving them
a peculiar color, the moods being either humorous or passionate,
melancholy or exuberant, quartets alternating with solos, the
accompaniment being as elaborate as it is effective.
Of the twenty highly remarkable duets some have, in spite of many
harmonic and rhythmic finesses, quite a plain character, while others
are very elaborate, the voices either joining or alternating. As
particularly typical we mention “The Seas,” “The Nun and the Knight,”
“The Sisters,” “The Messengers of Love,” “Edward,” and “Let us wander.”
Finally we have reached the field in which Brahms has been especially
fertile and original, his “Lieder.” To speak of them only in a general
way is difficult indeed. Thirty-one of the published 115 works contain
nearly 200 songs. Throughout his whole career Brahms has been writing
songs; there was in his soul a lyric element, kindled again and again by
the beauty of feeling, thought and diction of the great German poets,
and he found a style of song-writing so independent, that in spite of
some more or less striking exceptions one can hardly trace his relation
to Schubert, Schumann and Franz. He is their equal as regards wealth of
invention, noble conception of the text, finishing of details. Yet in
treatment of the voice, relation between vocal and instrumental part,
and construction of the latter he opens a new path. In the selection of
poems he shows eminent knowledge and taste. Many half-forgotten poems of
a superior order he has awakened to fresh life; others, which on account
of their peculiar metre or meaning have been avoided, have found in him
an unexpectedly effective interpreter. However, it seems to us as if the
poems often suffer transformation. They have inspired the composer with
certain tone-pictures, which in turn impose upon them very distinctly
the spirit of his own strong individuality. This individuality is by no
means always deep and heavy, for smiles and dancing are no strangers to
it. Often the melodies are as plain as folk-songs, but always of great
nobility. With a few notes the composer reaches our hearts and lifts us
at once into a higher region. Other melodies again are as elaborate as a
dramatic scene. The accompaniment, inexhaustible in forms, yet never
conventional, simple or with great harmonic wealth and peculiar
figuration, rivals the singer in expressing the moods of the poem. Of
the so-called folk-songs (old German, Swiss, Bohemian, Scotch, Italian,
etc.) some are treated most artistically, others with a touching
simplicity. Very few poems composed by other masters are found among his
list, and the favorite poets Heine, Eichendorff, Chamisso are almost
avoided. A remarkable exception is the separately published
“Moon-night,” very different from Schumann’s jewel song, yet not
inferior. Goethe, Hölty, Platen, Tieck, Schenkendorf, Groth and Möricke
are fully represented, often by poems of an antique spirit and form.
Keller, Daumer, Heyse, Schack, Herder and many others inspired Brahms
too, and it is noteworthy that he had no music for meaningless
trivialities. The majority of these songs are devoted to love in all
possible phases and moods, often wonderfully reflected in scenes of
nature. There is perhaps more of twilight and autumn than of sunshine
and spring, but exultant and happy moods are well represented,—also
flowers, birds, woods, oceans and storms and the stillness of the
fields,—but all these more in a symbolic than realistic conception and
with a wonderful coloring of the prevailing mood. The sweet little
“Cradle song,” “Erinnerung,” “Minnelied,” “Wie bist du, meine Königin?”
“Meine Liebe ist grün,” “Von ewiger Liebe,” “Ruhe, Süssliebchen,”
“Mainacht,” “Vergebliches Ständchen” are only a few familiar jewels
among the rich collection; how many more deserve the same sympathy and
study from singers with noble artistic ambitions! Special mention is due
to the two fine songs for alto with viola obligato Op. 91 and to the
fifteen romances from Tieck’s half-forgotten fairy tale “Die schöne
Magelone,” which have a most elaborate form and an intensely emotional
character. Nowhere indeed can one get a better estimate of Brahms’ high
significance as a song writer than here, where the poet appears like a
dwarf in the light of the composer’s higher genius.
Greatness indeed remains Brahms’ characteristic feature, wherever we
look at him or at his works; greatness in ideas, purposes and powers;
greatness in self-criticism and faithfulness to the dignity of his art;
greatness in the devotion to past masters and independence of
contemporary influences; greatness in the sincerity and simplicity of
his manners and relation to the outer world. Never appearing as a
revolutionary spirit, yet he has himself introduced many strong
innovations in various fields, and for a long time his works will not
only afford profound enjoyment to earnest lovers of our art, but be a
source of the most valuable studies for those to whom its further
development will be entrusted. Long has he been ignored, patiently has
he waited, till the world has come to him to respect in him the noblest
musical genius of our time.
[Illustration:
Louis Keeserborn
]
[Illustration: