Brahms

PERFORMERS:
Soloist: Rudolf Buchbinder (piano)
The Mariinsky Orchestra
Conductor: Valery Gergiev

PROGRAMME:
Johannes Brahms
Piano Concerto No 2 in B Flat Major, Op. 83
Symphony No 4 in E Minor, Op. 98

Johannes Brahms’ Second Piano Concerto (1878–1881) is one of the composer’s most important works. Its unique nature lies in the three movements it consists of are joined by a scherzo. The concerto thus took on the form and scale of a grandiose romantic symphony. At the same time, it rose to a higher rank in terms of the hierarchy of genres, serving not as a demonstration of virtuoso technique and for the public’s enjoyment but as an expression of mankind’s widely-held beliefs.
Brahms’ First Symphony was referred to as “Beethoven’s Tenth Symphony”. His piano concerti also follow Beethoven’s traditions. Second Concerto is a classical work in every sense of the word. The composer dedicated the Concerto to his teacher Eduard Marxsen. Officially, it was premiered on 9 November 1881 in Budapest, while an unofficial first performance had taken place somewhat earlier in Meiningen, where Hans von Bülow, the outstanding conductor and Brahms’ friend, had given him the chance to “try out” his new works with an orchestra.
The Second Concerto instantly won popularity and the composer himself performed it twenty-two times in the course of just the three months in various countries.

Johannes Brahms’ Fourth Symphony (1884–1885) was the first symphony ever to open with a “fragmented” theme comprising separate motifs. It subsequently formed the basis for the song O Tod, wie bitter bist du. The trumpets give out signals as if a reminder of the Day of Judgement, while the wind instruments playing on the octave refer to fleeting episodes from Mozart in which “the vision is funereal, a sudden gloom... ”
In the captivating second movement, Brahms appears in the guise of the heir to another Viennese composer – Schubert. The scherzo is wonderfully irrepressible in its mirth, and Brahms even introduces the piccolo flute in his orchestra – for the first and only time.
The finale, with its remark of energico e passionate – going against tradition – was composed in the form of variations. Eight measured chords of the theme alternate with each other inescapably, like the advance of Fate. For the first time in this symphony the trombones emerge, giving the music a funereal character. Examples for Brahms came from the idols of his youth – Beethoven (in particular his Thirty-Two Variations) and Bach: the solo flute at the core of the movement could have been written entirely by Bach.
Anna Bulycheva