9:21 [m.

258]--The music is now in G minor/major, and a huge statement of the

initial

gesture from Theme 1 in the bass is heard under the increasingly rapid and highly

chromatic motion. Brahms uses three-staff notation here, with the left hand
jumping

from the Theme 1 gesture in the bass up to higher harmonies accompanying the
continuing

fast triplets. The gesture from the theme is reiterated in a lower octave. The

music rapidly subsides and slows down as the triplets decrease in volume and run

out of energy, with left-hand rolled chords giving way to detached two-note
harmonies.

The key is an unambiguous G major.

CODA - Molto sostenuto
9:44 [m. 268]--The tempo and character of the introduction return, but the key
shifts

to F-sharp major. Four octaves make the half-step harmonic motion back to F-sharp

from G.
9:52 [m. 270]--The familiar “rising gestures” from the introduction are heard.
This

time, they are played over a suggestion of Theme 1 in the bass rather than a pedal

point.
10:03 [m. 272]--A series of three accelerating trills accompanied by wide left-hand

arpeggios and internal rising gestures is followed by two more extremely quiet
trills

that lead into arching, sweeping unmeasured flourishes. These confirm F-sharp
major

after the last two trills had briefly moved to B and E major.
10:29 [m. 277]--Another trill leads into a final, very quiet flourish This
consists

of rising chromatic scales with leaps down from initial notes. The notation and

rhythmic grouping suggests that m. 277 should actually be broken into two bars, but

Brahms notates it as one, presumably to preserve the continuity and flow of this

rising flourish. When m. 278 does arrive, it is a measured bar. Rolled chords
punctuate

the four beats, the first three of which are a continuous downward F-sharp major

scale punctuated by more trills. The last beat continues the scale, but it is
longer,

faster, and less measured.

10:46 [m. 279]--The bottom F-sharp of the scale, which is still hushed and
secretive,

is followed by two suddenly loud, jarring rolled F-sharp major chords. The second

of these is wider, with a higher right hand and a lower left. These two sudden
rolled

chords emphatically close this large-scale movement. The slow coda has the effect

of arresting, rather than fulfilling the movement’s progress.

11:13--END OF MOVEMENT [280 mm.]
END OF SONATA

SIX SONGS (GESÄNGE), OP. 3

Recording: Jessye Norman, soprano (No. 1); Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone;
Daniel

Barenboim, piano [DG 449 633-2]

Published 1854. Dedicated to Bettina von Arnim.

Along with the early piano pieces, Brahms also showed the Schumanns some of his
earliest

song settings for voice and piano. Many of these were published as the opus
numbers

3, 6, and 7. Op. 3 was a natural choice for his first set of songs, following the

two piano sonatas and providing a contrast before more piano music in Opp. 4-5.

The Op. 3 set does not necessarily contain all of the earliest songs, but his
choice

of “Liebestreu” to introduce himself as a song composer was a wise move, since it

is in every respect an excellent and highly effective dialogue song, possibly the

best out of the first three groups. As a complete set, Op. 6 is probably superior

to Op. 3, however. The two “Liebe und Frühling” settings are subtly sophisticated,

nearly on the level of “Liebestreu,” but the last three songs are not quite as
good.

No. 4, while exciting, seems to stretch its material a bit too far. “In der
Fremde,”

while an early example of Brahms's great proficiency in subtly altering musical

details

between mostly similar strophic stanzas, stands in the shadow of a great setting

by Schumann of the same text. And No. 6 (along with No. 4, the only two songs that

Brahms ever simply titled “Lied,” outside of those, usually making up a complete
set, that have no titles and are typically known by their first lines) is perhaps

a better song than most scholars give it credit, although its central section
certainly

contains one of the most unusual passages in the entire song output. All told, he

would compose 196 songs in opus-numbered groups (this counts the song cycle Op. 33,

the quasi-duets Op. 84, and the songs with viola Op. 91). These six are a very
solid

introduction to this body of his work, and “Liebestreu” at least is worthy of

standing

with the best of the later ones. Brahms produced a revised version of No. 2 in
1882

in which the vocal/piano doubling was altered in two places and climactic
dissonances

were made more mild.

Note: Links to English translations of the texts are from Emily Ezust’s site at
http://www.recmusic.org/lieder.

For the most part, the translations are line-by-line, except where the difference

between German and English syntax requires slight alterations to the contents of

certain lines. The German texts (included here) are also visible in the
translation

links.

IMSLP WORK PAGE

ONLINE SCORE FROM IMSLP (First Edition from Brahms-Institut Lübeck--original keys.

Includes only original version of No. 2)

ONLINE SCORE FROM IMSLP (From Breitkopf & Härtel Sämtliche Werke--original keys.

Includes both versions of No. 2)

ONLINE SCORE FROM IMSLP (Edition Peters, edited by Max Friedländer):
No. 1: Liebestreu (in original key, E-flat minor)
No. 1: Liebestreu (in middle key, C minor. Includes front matter to middle voice

edition)
No. 1: Liebestreu (in low key, B minor. Includes front matter to low voice
edition,

vol. 1)
No. 2: Liebe und Frühling I (in original key, B major, revised version)
No. 2: Liebe und Frühling I (in low key, G major, revised version. Includes front

matter to low voice edition, vol. 3)

No. 3: Liebe und Frühling II (in original key, B major)
No. 3: Liebe und Frühling II (in low key, G major)
No. 4: Lied [aus dem Gedicht “Ivan ”] (in original key, E-flat minor)
No. 4: Lied [aus dem Gedicht “Ivan”] (in low key, C minor)
No. 5: In der Fremde (in original key, F-sharp minor)
No. 5: In der Fremde (in low key, D minor)
No. 6: Lied (in original key, A major)
No. 6: Lied (in low key, F major)
Nos. 2-6 (original keys--higher resolution. Includes front matter to high voice

edition, vol. 3)

1. Liebestreu (Constancy). Text by Robert Reinick. Sehr langsam (Very slowly).

Modified strophic form (Dialogue song). E-FLAT MINOR, 4/4 time (Middle key C
minor,

low key B minor).

German Text:
»O versenk’, o versenk’ dein Leid,
mein Kind, in die See, in die tiefe See!«
Ein Stein wohl bleibt auf des Meeres Grund,
mein Leid kommt stets in die Höh’.

»Und die Lieb’, die du im Herzen trägst,

brich sie ab, brich sie ab, mein Kind!«
Ob die Blum’ auch stirbt, wenn man sie bricht,
treue Lieb’ nicht so geschwind.

»Und die Treu’, und die Treu’,

’s war nur ein Wort, in den Wind damit hinaus.«
O Mutter und splittert der Fels auch im Wind,
meine Treue, die hält ihn aus.

English Translation

0:00 [m. 1]--The piano sets up a quietly agitated, restless mood with repeated
chords

in groups of six. A rising three-note figure in the bass, clashing rhythmically

with the triplet chords, anticipates the main motive in the vocal line. Stanza 1

begins with the mother’s imperative to the daughter to sink her sorrow in the sea.

Her line, marked “con espressione,” follows the constant bass figure, which now

reaches even lower on the keyboard. After reaching a high point on “Leid,” she
sinks

back down as the piano rests on the “dominant” harmony.

0:21 [m. 6]--The daughter’s more tender response is marked “träumerisch”
(“dreamy”).

The low piano bass drops out, and the left hand jumps up to double the singer.

The repeated right hand chords continue in triplet rhythms. After touching on the

related major key of G-flat, the singer leaps to a floating high note, also on
“Leid.”

The piano left hand becomes independent and adds descending arpeggios. The singer
then slides up chromatically, moving to C-flat major at the end of the line. The

piano chords descend and lead back to the introduction.

0:43 [m. 11]--The descending chords lead back to the bass figure and the repeated

chords in E-flat minor. Stanza 2 begins with the mother’s second imperative. It

is musically the same as her first one, but Brahms increases the intensity with a

faster speed, marking the mother’s line “Poco più mosso.” At the end, she slows

back down and becomes quieter in anticipation of the daughter’s response.

0:58 [m. 16]--The daughter’s response is once again tender and dreamy, returning

explicitly to the opening tempo. This is a clear illustration of the “constancy”

in the title. The descending piano chords are now marked “ancora più mosso
agitato,”

indicating that the increase in tempo and agitation is to be greater than it was

before.
1:20 [m. 21]--Stanza 3. The mother uses the same musical material once again, but

now her line is marked forte, and she reaches a passionate intensity which bridges

into the daughter’s last response, adding another bass figure.

1:34 [m. 26]--The daughter’s last response now resembles the mother’s music,
maintaining

the bass figures, which now leap up and down to lower and higher octaves. But she

does not submit to the mother’s entreaties. Instead, she breaks into a rapturous

climax, moving strongly to the home major key and reaching her highest note on the

clinching word “Treue” (“fidelity”). The climax subsides even faster than it
arose.

The descending line after the high note quickly moves back to minor, and the
chords

following the singer’s half-close steadily slow down and diminish in volume. The

bass becomes static, moving slowly up by half-step.

1:51 [m. 31]--The singer repeats the last words of her line as a coda. She repeats

“die hält” twice and then “ihn aus” once. As she does this, she moves down part

of the E-flat-minor scale from C-flat down to the tonic keynote (a sixth). The
piano

chords, with the static bass, continue. The bass leaps down on the second “die
halt.”

As the singer reaches the cadence, she slows and settles down. Following her
cadence,
the piano repeats the E-flat-minor chord for two measures while the original bass

figures return. The last of these has doubled note values, increasing the sense

of slowing. It turns back down for the last note, a low E-flat that has not been

used before, coinciding with the final chord.

2:25--END OF SONG [35 mm.]

2. Liebe und Frühling I (Love and Spring I). Text by August Heinrich Hoffmann von

Fallersleben. Moderato ma non troppo. Binary through-composed form (variations)

with coda. B MAJOR, 4/4 time (Low key G major).

German Text:
Wie sich Rebenranken schwingen
In der linden Lüfte Hauch,
Wie sich weiße Winden schlingen
Luftig um den Rosenstrauch:

Also schmiegen sich und ranken

Frühlingsselig, still und mild,
Meine Tag- und Nachtgedanken
Um ein trautes, liebes Bild.

English Translation

*Note: The revised version of the song is used here. I am unaware of any recording

of the earlier version. Despite the fact that the revised version was made to make

the canons between voice and piano clearer when the song is sung by a woman, and

the fact that the first version is probably more suited to a male singer, Fischer-
Dieskau

sings the revised version. This is probably because the first version seems to be

unavailable in a low key edition.

0:00 [m. 1]--Stanza 1. The first two lines are presented in unison and octaves by

the singer and both hands of the piano. The melodic line arches rather simply up,

down, then back up again, but the last ascent includes chromatic notes to increase

the questioning nature of the phrase. Brahms marks the unassuming line “dolce,
espressivo

e sempre legato.” Such detailed markings were typical of the younger Brahms.
0:11 [m. 5]--The two hands of the piano begin the same melodic line, but the right

hand follows the left in canon (imitation) two beats later, depicting the entwining

vines. The singer enters with the last two lines of the stanza, doubling the right

hand. In the original version, the singer entered earlier and doubled the left
hand.
 Because a male singer will be in the low octave, he is an octave lower than the

right hand voice he is doubling. If he were doubling the left hand, he would be

in unison with it. At “den Rosenstrauch” the canon breaks and the voice breaks
away

from doubling the piano line. More chromatic notes are introduced, along with a

triplet rhythm, first taken by the voice, then the piano right hand, reaching high.

The singer holds a long note as the piano slows down, and both come to a pause on

an expectant “dominant” chord.

0:31 [m. 12]--Stanza 2. A new melody is introduced that moves in contrary motion

to the melody from stanza 1. It is an expressive line that is placed in the voice

and the piano right hand against the original stanza 1 melody in the left hand.

Brahms made it to resemble Zerlina’s aria from Mozart’s Don Giovanni. In the first

version of the song, the voice doubled the left hand on the original melody for the

first line of the stanza, leaving the new melodic line in the right hand alone.

The piano introduces a middle voice with off-beat notes. In the second line, the

voice and the piano right hand flower into a heartfelt upward reach with rich
harmonies.

The piano left hand continues the original stanza 1 melody, but it leaps down to

a lower octave.
0:40 [m. 16]--For the last two lines, the voice has an intensified version of the

new melody, beginning a third higher. The beginning of the third line of the
stanza

is the climax of the song, and the piano right hand continues to enrich the
“Zerlina”

melody with expressive harmonies and off-beat notes. The left hand is also given

harmonies and a lower octave doubling, but it still plays the original melody from

stanza 1. The melody is now doubled down yet another octave, reaching the lower

end of the keyboard. The voice holds “Bild,” and the piano adds another measure

of chromatic harmonies, the right hand reaching high. This measure serves as a
bridge

that settles down to the song’s coda, which will repeat these two lines.
0:55 [m. 21]--Brahms marks the coda “Poco più lento.” The singer repeats the last

two lines of text to an augmented version of the original melody (doubled note
values).
 The piano right hand plays the new “Zerlina” melody introduced with stanza 2,
completing

it under the first repeated line. It is placed in a high register, supplied with

lower harmonies (beginning in thirds) and the now familiar off-beat notes. The
left

hand plays long octaves that still reflect aspects of the opening melody, whose
apparent

simplicity has been revealed to enclose great possibilities for counterpoint,

imitation,and

manipulation. The last line breaks away from the augmented melody and reaches
closure

after an extremely expressive turn figure.

1:19 [m. 28]--The piano postlude begins with the voice’s arrival on its final note

after resolving an aching suspended dissonance. It is an elaboration on fragments

of the main melody in low octaves of the left hand, with the right hand playing
slowly

descending chromatic thirds in the tenor register. It gradually slows down,

diminishes,

and descends to the end.

1:50--END OF SONG [33 mm.]

3. Liebe und Frühling II (Love and Spring II). Text by August Heinrich Hoffmann

von Fallersleben. Vivace con fuoco. Ternary/modified strophic form (ABB’A’). B

MAJOR, 4/4 time (Low key G major).

German Text:
Ich muß hinaus, ich muß zu dir,
Ich muß es selbst dir sagen:
Du bist mein Frühling, du nur mir
In diesen lichten Tagen.

Ich will die Rosen nicht mehr sehn

Nicht mehr die grünen Matten;
Ich will nicht mehr zu Walde gehn,
Nach Duft und Klang und Schatten.

Ich will nicht mehr der Lüfte Zug,

Nicht mehr der Wellen Rauschen,
Ich will nicht mehr der Vögel Flug
Und ihrem Liede lauschen.

Ich will hinaus, ich will zu dir,

Ich will es selbst dir sagen:
Du bist mein Frühling, du nur mir
In diesen lichten Tagen.

English Translation
0:00 [m. 1]--Stanza 1 (A), lines 1-2. The piano sets off an anxious, breathless

mood with its opening notes in a dotted rhythm. The first single note stays solid

while lower notes are added, first a minor second, then a major second below. When

the voice enters, the right hand breaks into a tremolo whose lower notes continue

to gradually descend through the stanza. The top notes are more static and only

descend very gradually. The excited vocal line shoots upward, with a dissonance

resolving at the end. The piano left hand enters at the end of the first line with

a descending figure that seems to mirror the voice. This descending figure is then

directly copied by the singer at the beginning of the second line, which reaches

a half-close. Against the second line, the left hand also establishes a descending

line in the tenor range.

0:09 [m. 6]--Stanza 1, lines 3-4. Line 3 is set to the same vocal phrase as line

1, but without the upbeat. It is apparent that the descents in the piano’s inner

voices are meant to mirror this rising vocal line. Before the last line, the piano

bass rises chromatically. This last line is suddenly sustained, reaching

yearningly

upward before descending, as if exhaling, to its cadence. At this point, the

descent

in the inner voices of the piano is complete. In an interlude, the tremolos, now

in the middle register, become wider. The singer’s descent is echoed in longer
notes

first in the tenor, then the bass range of the piano.

0:22 [m. 12]--Stanza 2 (B), lines 1-2. Although the opening rhythm returns in the

piano to introduce it, the verse is much more contemplative and expressive as the

singer refers to what is no longer desired. The first line seems to shift its key

a third higher, to D major, but the second line moves to the related B minor. In

both lines, the voice introduces an expressive rising figure that reaches up a
sixth,

then falls in a prolonged resolution. The piano, meanwhile, plays the dotted
rhythms

and narrow harmonies from the first bar.

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