‘Symphony no. 1’ by Brahms is a piece that’s a favourite amongst musicians, and it may even be the piece I love most. But, composing it was an immense challenge: it took Brahms perhaps twenty years to complete! In this episode I share insights into the piece, I discuss Symphonies, and I conclude my series of episodes on how music works by taking a look at Form.

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Hi! My name’s Scott Wilson. I’m a conductor and I’m passionate about classical music. In this podcast we discover the music of one of our greatest artforms. We listen to a new piece in each episode, I share insights into the music, and over time, I’ll take you on a journey through classical music’s composers, musicians, and history. Everything’s discussed in an easily digestible way, and no prior knowledge is needed. This podcast is for you!

Today we’re listening to ‘Symphony no. 1’ by the composer Brahms. This piece is a favourite amongst musicians, and it may even be the one I love most. And yet, composing the piece must have been an immense challenge: it took Brahms perhaps twenty years to write it.

Enjoy this elegant moment. For me, it’s the music Brahms wrote to celebrate the achievement of writing his first symphony.

[music excerpt]

This music will be our destination. But prior to arriving at this moment, the piece has a different atmosphere. At the beginning, Brahms sets up tension that must be resolved.

Let’s listen. Pay particular attention to the first four notes - they’re played by the low-pitched instruments in the orchestra. They descend slowly, arriving at a point of high tension on the fourth of these notes. It’s that moment that must be resolved in the music that follows.

[music excerpt]

So, initially we heard four notes; and on the fourth note Brahms adds a chord which results in tension that needs to be resolved.

[music excerpt]

Fascinatingly, a listener already knows how this tension will eventually be resolved. That’s a big claim, but it’s the premise upon which most classical music is built. Musically, we expect to hear something like this:

[music excerpt]

With just a few chords I was able to resolve the tension set up by Brahms: the music has come to a point of rest. For a musician, resolving tension isn’t difficult. But what makes Brahms almost uniquely brilliant is the journey he takes us on to find that final chord. He resolves the tension elaborately over a long period of time.

Okay, let’s listen to the music which immediately follows what we heard before. It begins quietly and exploratory.

[music excerpt]

Tension is being prolonged by Brahms. Given that he could easily resolve it, I conclude that it's his intention to communicate a struggle to us. In fact, I hear this music as having a kind of narrative. We know that it took Brahms somewhere between fourteen and twenty-one years to compose this piece. For me, this volatile, agitated music is the aural equivalent of Brahms sitting at his desk, frustrated that he can’t find a way to complete his first symphony.

A little further along, we hear the four descending notes again, this time in the high-pitched clarinet. Immediately following, there’s energetic music which, I think, represents Brahms’ determination to keep going with his composition.

[music excerpt]

An outburst of passion flies out of the composer's pen. Though it’s difficult to hear, those final moments are again underpinned by four descending notes. But I actually cut off the music before we heard the final one. We’ve been left hanging on the third note:

[music excerpt]

And when we hear that fourth note, we’ll be arriving at a new section in the music. For a composer, choosing when to move to a new section is crucial. And in making those decisions, the composer is building what is called the Form of the piece. An effective Form is created when the proportions of a piece are balanced in a way that’s aesthetically pleasing or coherent to a listener. On a large-scale this is exceptionally difficult to achieve, and it’s a defining quality of the very greatest composers.

Constructing a satisfactory Form is a bit like how I assume an architect designs the facade of a building. If the proportions between the objects - like doors and windows - are off, we consider it unsatisfactory - perhaps even ugly - to look at.

For composers, the proportional balance between the different sections of the piece is considered at all times. A very large, dramatic section early in the piece must be balanced by the music that follows; otherwise the piece would appear lop-sided, and a listener would likely lose interest. The moment-to-moment details of the music must be considered too. These short segments must collectively ‘add up’ to an entire section which is balanced proportionally. Viewed from this perspective, every detail matters in relation both to what immediately surrounds it, and to the piece as a whole. This internal coherence - meaning, proportional balance between all aspects of a composition - creates an effective Form. This allows the piece to be successfully understood and enjoyed by a listener.

In discussing Form I’ve concluded my series of episodes on how music works. We’ve looked at melody, harmony, pulse, time signatures, rhythm, orchestration, texture, and now form. These elements are used by composers to construct pieces; but most importantly, they affect us emotionally when we listen to music.

Now, before we were left hanging on the third of our four descending notes. Here’s the fourth note and it’s chord:

[music excerpt]

And now when I play this...

[music excerpt]

...it sounds resolved. Isn’t it amazing that, in all the time I was speaking, you maintained an awareness that those first three notes hadn’t been resolved. Those chords I played just now only made sense because you had - subconsciously - remembered that those three descending notes needed resolving. This is an example of how we’re able to perceive tension - meaning, seek resolution - over a long period of time.

We’ll return to this later. But for now, I’ll demonstrate what actually happens at this point in the music: when we reach the fourth descending note, Brahms changes the chord. It goes like this:

[music excerpt]

This chord sounds open, perhaps even happier than those we’ve heard previously. It hasn’t resolved the tension, but there’s a change of atmosphere. We’ve arrived at the new section: you’ll hear a majestic horn solo.

[music excerpt]

For me, this is a moment of confidence. Brahms is standing on top of a mountain. The clouds are parting and he sees - for the first time - the path that’ll allow him to complete his first symphony. Of course, I’m continuing my invented narrative. We began with agitated music, representing Brahms’ many years agonising over this piece. It conveyed a struggle, but also determination. After a while we arrived at a passionate outburst, which evaporated into the majestic horn solo. It’s like Brahms had been sitting in a dark room, and now, two giant windows begin to open; daylight shines in, and a beautiful panorama is revealed. 

Listen immediately afterwards when the horn theme is taken up by the flute. I love the change of colour from the noble horn, to the abundantly joyful sound of the flute.

[music excerpt]

Let’s continue our multi-episode journey discovering the different types of pieces that orchestras play. Today we’ll look at Symphonies.

A symphony is a type of Form. Though a Form itself is constructed by the composer as they write music, over time ideal forms have been discovered and become somewhat standardised because their proportions are understood to be aesthetically satisfying. A symphony is an example of a standardised Form. Typically it has four movements: the first movement has an introduction, followed by faster, buoyant music, the second is slow and reflective, the third is a dance, and in the final movement everything comes together, usually with a triumphant ending. But of course, the very best composers don’t follow a prescribed form: that wouldn’t be interesting. They distinguish themselves by going beyond what was previously considered the standard form, by extending its possibilities. 

The composer Beethoven is a great example. He was a generation after Haydn and Mozart, the 18th Century composers particularly associated with establishing symphonic form. Beethoven expanded their smaller-scale works, transforming symphonies into grand artistic statements. The impact of his nine symphonies was so profound that it created a challenge for Brahms: could he create a symphony that merited comparison to the towering works of Beethoven?

Over time, symphonies have become increasingly larger in scale. Initially they were less than thirty minutes in length, but later works often last up to - or even longer than - an hour. For a new listener, this is a big time investment, and it’s perhaps a little intimidating. The key thing to know is that it’s okay to listen to brief moments of a symphony, enjoying them in isolation. In fact, in this episode we’re only listening to the Introduction from the Fourth Movement of Brahms’ First Symphony.

So why then listen to a whole symphony? Well, as you become familiar with them, there are deep rewards to be gained. They’re often the crowning achievement of our greatest composers, and they provide opportunities to hear the full range of beautiful sounds and rich emotions that can be communicated by an orchestra. You know, a symphony’s a bit like following a sports team. Though an individual match can be enjoyed, a deeper experience happens when you follow a team through its highs and lows across a season. Winning the final means all the more if you felt the tension in the early part of the season, supported the wins and losses throughout, and celebrated the release of all that intense energy following the final game.

We’re about to arrive at one of my favourite moments in all music. It’s a kind of musical prayer played by the trombones. Up until this point the trombones haven’t been heard; Brahms reserves them for this poignantly reflective, but also subtly triumphant music. Brahms has moved beyond the struggle of trying to write his first symphony, and has now glimpsed the way forwards to its finale. He brings his palms together and gazes upwards: could he be the one who follows in Beethoven’s footsteps?

[music excerpt]

And, as briefly as that, it’s gone. It’s a moment of poise before the excitement builds. In the music that follows, two horns call back and forth to each other. Brahms is playing one of them, and across the mountain range his call is answered - the path forwards is now beckoning him. He’s ready to complete his first symphony.

[music excerpt]

We’ve reached the end of the Introduction. And in a moment, we’ll hear a partial resolution of the tension that was set up at the beginning of the movement. (Of course, we have to wait until the end of the piece to hear the full resolution!). Incredibly, Brahms has resolved the tension in the same way I did when I played a few chords on the piano. But what Brahms has done is spread out those chords over the entire introduction of the movement! The Form of the introduction has been created by distributing those chords in a way that’s proportionally ideal.

So, let’s take a step back: I’ll talk through the music we’ve heard today, highlighting those chords which underpin the Form of the Introduction. Here’s the beginning.

[music excerpt]

This is followed by agitated music. Essentially, Brahms sustains the chord we heard just now by embellishing or decorating it. He’s able to do this because we perceive tension - meaning, seek resolution - over long periods of time, just as I demonstrated earlier.

The music continues until we arrive at a passionate outburst. We hear three of the four descending notes:

[music excerpt]

But this time, on the fourth of these notes, Brahms changes the chord...

[music excerpt]

That chord - an open, happier-sounding chord - is then decorated over the next minute or so by the majestic melody of the horn.

[music excerpt]

Following this, there’s a prayer in the trombones.

[music excerpt]

The final chord of that prayer is this:

[music excerpt]

This is the chord which sustains the music until the end of the introduction. At that point, we hear a partial resolution to the tension. And we’ve arrived at our destination: the music we heard at the start of today’s episode.

[music excerpt]

The gently flowing music’s so positive and warm. It’s as if Brahms is enjoying his achievement: he will complete his First Symphony. And we feel a sense of arrival. The tension that was set up in the first four notes has been partially resolved. We respond this way because the Introduction was constructed using chords which would eventually resolve the initial tension. And, on a small-scale, this is an example of how Form provides the foundation upon which many pieces of classical music are built. It’s the proportional balance of all components of a piece - the Form - which allows a listener to experience a thrilling sense of completion at the moment a piece ends.

Thank you for being with me for another episode of A Thousand Pictures. If you have questions or would like to make a suggestion of a piece or topic for a future episode, please get in touch via social media or email feedback@athousandpictures.com. Further information, a link to the recording featured in today’s podcast, and suggestions about what to listen to next can be found at athousandpictures.com. Or subscribe to our email list and you’ll receive this information directly to your inbox.

Today we’ve been listening to the fourth movement from ‘Symphony no. 1’ composed by Johannes Brahms. I recommend the recording by the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop.

And finally, please subscribe, please rate and review, and please share this podcast with others. Your support is valuable and it’s appreciated: together we can create a community which celebrates classical music! Now go and listen to this wonderful piece, and get out there and hear a performance by your local orchestra!

[music excerpt]