New Paths to Understanding Brahms's Music: Recent Analytic Studies

Abstract

In his 1853 proclamation of Johannes Brahms's talent, 'Neue Bahnen', Robert Schumann prophesied that the young man's compositions would chart new paths. 1 This article attracted so much attention that subsequent reviewers, both friends and foes alike, measured Brahms's compositions against its intimidating prediction. Not surprisingly, this theme even appeared in a number of the obituaries marking the composer's death in 1897. Although this tradition continued, to some degree, throughout the twentieth century, new angles and methodologies gradually emerged. While some scholars developed techniques to analyse Brahms's music, others pursued increasingly sophisticated understandings of the relationships between his compositions and the culture in which they were conceived and first performed. By the beginning of the twentyfirst century, scholars were also tackling questions of performance practices in Brahms's day and considering such topics as orchestral balance and elastic tempo. 2 The resulting rich diversity in recent Brahms studies was demonstrated by the American Brahms Society's study session at the 2008 AMS/SMT conference entitled 'Brahms at 175'. 3 A number of the participants described studies of Brahms's milieu and they acknowledged the influence of Margaret Notley's path-breaking work on the intersection of Viennese politics and Brahms's compositions. 4 The work of music analysts, however, was given somewhat less attention, and as a result, the following review article will concentrate on the latest ideas theorists have pursued in their attempts to explain the complexities of Brahms's music.To be sure, Brahms's compositions have always captured the attention of analysts, but, as late as 1983, Allen Forte was somewhat justified in stating: Robert Schumann, 'Neue Bahnen', Neue Zeitschrift für Musik 39/18 (1853): 185-6. A number of studies track the influence of Schumann's article, including: Norbert Meurs, Neue Bahnen? Aspekte der Brahms-Rezeption 1853-1868 (Köln: Studio, 1996) and Ingrid Fuchs, 'Der Versuch musikhistorischer Einordnung Brahms' und Bruckners in den Wiener Nachrufen', in Bruckner-Symposion: Bruckner -Vorbilder und Traditionen im Rahmen