Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68 
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

THE STORY

     Robert Schumann bestowed the highest praise on Johannes Brahms when he hailed him as Beethoven’s successor—but, like Mendelssohn, Brahms had no interest in competing with Beethoven. In fact, he wrote, “You don’t know what it is like hearing his footsteps constantly beside me,” and swore that he would never write a symphony.
      Clearly, Brahms changed his mind, but the pressure of being in Beethoven’s shadow, along with his already deeply self-critical nature, meant that his First Symphony took 14 years to write–much to the frustration of his publisher, who was eager to sell a Brahms symphony.
      Nervous about the reaction from Vienna’s opinionated critics and audiences, who worshipped Beethoven, Brahms arranged for the work to premiere outside of the city, in Karlsruhe, where there was a high quality orchestra. It was 1876 and Brahms was 43 years old. Even at the premiere, Brahms was critical of his symphony, calling it “long and not exactly amiable.” He wasn’t incorrect on those counts—the symphony is better described as weighty and impressive than charming—and the Vienna critic Eduard Hanslick stated that Brahms had absorbed the dark side of Beethoven.
      Still, Brahms shouldn’t have worried about the reaction—the symphony was extraordinarily well received, even if the comparisons with Beethoven persisted. (The symphony was even referred to, for better or worse, as “Beethoven’s Tenth.”) Brahms must have known that the comparisons would be unavoidable by writing a symphony that, just like Beethoven’s Fifth, traced a journey from struggle to triumph, from C minor to C major. The chorale-like melody in the fourth movement is sometimes called “Brahms’ Ode to Joy,” and when pressed about the resemblance between his melody and that in Beethoven’s Ninth, Brahms replied, “Any ass can see that.”
      In any case, it would appear Brahms got the confidence boost that he needed; he completed his Symphony No. 2 the following year.

LISTEN FOR

• The ominous introduction (which was added in a later revision) with the timpani creating throbbing intensity, followed by the main theme with a “short-short-short-long” rhythm in the timpani and strings, resembling the famous rhythm in Beethoven’s Fifth

• The rapturous violin solo at the end of the Andante sostenuto that seems to have paved the way for Brahms’ Violin Concerto

• Brahms’ careful attention to symmetry in the third movement, which, like the second movement, is in ABA form

• The dark emotion in the slow introduction of the fourth movement, pierced by a radiant horn call

INSTRUMENTATION

Two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, strings