Tragic Overture, Op. 81
Johannes Brahms
(b. May 7, 1833 in Hamburg, Germany; d. April 3, 1897 in Vienna, Austria)

Brahms wrote two concert overtures, both in the summer of 1880. The Academic Festival Overture is numbered Op. 80 but it debuted in January 1881 after the Tragic Overture was played first in December 1880. Brahms worked on them concurrently, starting work on the Academic Festival Overture first, finishing it in late August. He finished the Tragic Overture in early September.

The impetus for Op. 80 is clear. In 1880 Herr Brahms became Doktor as the University of Breslau awarded him an honorary degree. For that occasion, Brahms offered the school a gift in return, the Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80. That work was uncharacteristically jolly for Brahms and perhaps Brahms’ understanding of the importance of writing celebratory music led him to work simultaneously on a piece where he could indulge his darker thoughts.

Brahms himself referred to the overtures as, "the laughing and the weeping" (das lachende und das weinende). Tragic for Brahms also meant only an exploration of the universal, stormy, and austere nature of tragedy itself—a purely musical drama—more circumstantial evidence that it was the emotional foil at hand into which he could sink what could detract from the positivity of the other overture.

The music itself is a mini symphony in three parts, (not so) fast, very moderate, and tranquilly fast. Two savage chords launch us, giving way to a searching melody in the strings. Brute force and lyricism are subsumed by a relentless march-like rhythm until it all bursts out in a turbulent landscape of sound.

The middle section cuts the tempo in half. The march of the first part turns into a dirge wandering through a desolate landscape but building to a return of the opening tempest.

As the final section gets underway, the clouds part for a glorious brass chorale—a stunning transformation of the opening theme into a noble anthem. The trombones fulfill their traditional role as messengers of the supernatural. The coda holds an epic, violent struggle, ending with five emphatic final chords that seal the overture's grim fate.

(c) 2015, 2025 by Steven Hollingsworth
Creative Commons Public Attribution 3.0 United States License
contact: steve@trecorde.net