Johannes Brahms - Schicksalslied, op. 54 (Manuscript Score)

Performers: hr-Sinfonieorchester – Frankfurt Radio Symphony and WDR Rundfunkchor, conducted by Andrés Orozco-Estrada. YouTube Link:    • Brahms: Schicksalslied ∙ hr-Sinfonieorches...   Photo: Brahms, late 1860s early 1870s 0:00 - Langsam und sehnsuchtsvoll 8:07 - Allegro 12:56 - Adagio In the summer of 1868, Brahms visited his friend and fellow composer Albert Dietrich at Willemshaven on the North Sea. While there, he found a book of poetry by Friedrich Hölderlin and was deeply impressed by “Hyperions Schicksalslied,” which originally appeared in Hölderlin’s novel Hyperion from 1797-99. The contrast depicted between the celestial existence of the divine beings and the grim reality of the human experience was impossible to resist. In setting the poem as a succinct one-movement work for chorus and full orchestra, he effectively invented a new genre, smaller than a cantata or choral ballad, a type of dramatic “choral overture.” Initially, he conceived the piece in a ternary form, with a full return of the opening music and text. He saw the problems with this, as it would undermine the stark ending of the poem, but felt the musical structure demanded some sort of return. He abandoned work on the setting and turned to another short vocal work with orchestra, the Alto Rhapsody for soloist and men’s choir, in 1869-70. The conductor Hermann Levi finally suggested that instead of a full return of the opening “celestial” vocal music, the piece should end with just the orchestral introduction. This satisfied Brahms, who completed and published the Schicksalslied in 1871, but the result is something most unusual in his output. The first section of slow material depicting the divine state of being is in the noble, radiant key of E-flat major. The turbulent and greatly extended second section changes meter and key, to 3/4 and the “relative” C minor. But when the opening orchestral music comes back in the end, it is not in E-flat, but C major, the key center associated with the fate of humanity. The message is ambiguous. By setting this music in C and ending the piece there, was he bringing the divine beings closer to humanity or emphasizing their distance and untouchability? At any rate, this was one of only three times he ended a discrete piece of music on a different key center from where it began. The slow movement of the early F-minor piano sonata, Op. 5, and the main portion of the cantata Rinaldo (whose final chorus returns to the initial key) are the others. The composition is one of his most enduring and popular, not just among his vocal pieces, but his entire output, easily the most frequently performed of the short choral/orchestral works, and among his choral music, only the German Requiem is more well known and beloved. The later Nänie, Op. 82 and Gesang der Parzen, Op. 89 would follow in its footsteps, both using classical poetry and depicting a contrast between the mortal and the divine. The latter piece has a particular kinship to the Schicksalslied, and its message is even darker, but it lacks the contrasting textual and musical elements that make the earlier work so profound and thought-provoking. It is orchestrally conceived throughout, and the use of wind instruments is extremely idiomatic, along with a sensitive deployment of trombones and timpani. The contrast between the slow, rarefied music of the first section and the passionate second section with its many “diminished” harmonies is extreme. The “Allegro” includes two full statements of the third stanza, plus a central developmental episode on the first two lines, creating its own small ternary form within the larger structure. The voices end in hushed despair, leaving the orchestra to provide perhaps not hope, but closure in its recapitulatory epilogue, varied not only by key but also in its colorful reorchestration. Both short and monumental, the Schicksalslied is a landmark of 19th-century symphonic choral music. Note: The link to the English translation of the text is from Emily Ezust's site at http://www.lieder.net. For the most part, the translation is line-by-line, except where the difference between German and English syntax requires slight alterations to the contents of certain lines. The German text (included here) is also visible in the translation link. Description by Kelly Dean Hansen (2023), http://www.kellydeanhansen.com/opus54... Disclaimer: I do not own the audio or scores in this video; all rights belong to the original artists and publishers. This video is created strictly for educational purposes to help fellow music lovers study Brahms's masterworks. If you are the copyright owner and wish to have a recording removed, please contact me via the email in the channel's About section.