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upon us fully equipped, as Minerva sprang from the
brain of Jupiter. And he has come, this chosen youth,
over whose cradle the Graces and Heroes seem to
have kept watch. His name is Johannes Brahms.”—
Schumann, in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik,
Oct. 28, 1853.
Brahms’ Variations on a Theme by Haydn,
op. 56a, have a curious history. We now know that
Haydn had nothing to do with these magnificent
variations. Though Brahms did not know that,
this achievement of turning an obscure tune into
one of the most beloved themes in music is surely
more significant than its pedigree. Brahms’ friend,
Carl Ferdinand Pohl, the author of an important
early biography of Haydn, first showed Brahms the
theme he would later make famous. Brahms had
always been exceptionally interested in older music;
he closely studied the six recently discovered wind
serenades Pohl attributed to Haydn. The second
movement of one, in B-flat Major, particularly
attracted him. He wrote it out and put it in a
folder labeled “copies of outstanding masterpieces
of the 16th-18th centuries for study purposes” that
he had been compiling for years. Brahms wrote
the words “Chorale St. Antoni” next to the theme.
In May of 1873, Brahms started to compose a set
of variations for two pianos on the St. Antoni
theme. On August 20, he and Clara Schumann
played through the work together. Sometime
that Summer, Brahms also began an orchestral
version of the variations, which was premiered
on October 4 by the Vienna Philharmonic, and
was rapturously received. The eight variations
were so imaginative and well-crafted, they were
immediately recognized as something unique and
original. Brahms follows with a further innovation
in the finale, fashioning a five-measure bass line
that he repeats, unchanged, seventeen times—the
strictness of that formula inspiring him to new
heights of invention. The work ends in triumph
Program Notes, continued
19
with the full restatement of the theme. And where
did that theme come from? It is now believed that
Brahms’ beloved theme is the work of Haydn’s star
pupil, Ignaz Pleyel. As for Brahms’ “St. Antoni
Chorale” subtitle, that may be his alone!
About Johannes Brahms: Johannes Brahms was
born in Hamburg, Germany, on May 7, 1833.
He first studied music with his father, a doublebass
player for the Hamburg opera; subsequently
he studied composition with Eduard Marxsen.
Brahms was a talented pianist, giving his first
public recital at the age of 14.
On a concert tour in 1853 as accompanist
for the Hungarian violinist Eduard Remenyi,
Brahms met Franz Liszt, who praised the 20-yearold’s
Scherzo in E-Flat Minor and his piano sonatas.
Brahms, however, never became personally friendly
with Liszt, and in 1860 he signed a manifesto
attacking the so-called Music of the Future, which
Liszt championed. More fruitful for Brahms was
his meeting with Robert Schumann, who hailed
the young composer as the coming genius of
German music and arranged for the publication of
his first songs and piano sonatas. Schumann died
in 1856, and Brahms remained a devoted friend
of his widow, Clara Wieck Schumann, until her
death in 1896. Brahms never married, although
he had a large circle of friends and patrons.
After Brahms was rejected for a post as
conductor in Hamburg in 1862, he visited Vienna
and later (1868) made his home there, originally
working as a choral conductor. Brahms conducted
the orchestra of the Society of the Friends of
Music in Vienna from 1872 to 1875, after which
he devoted himself entirely to composition.
Brahms made his will in 1891 and then embarked
with renewed vigor on the composition of many
of his best works. These later works were mostly
unpublished until after Brahms died in Vienna on
April 3, 1897.