Expressive Forms in Brahms's Instrumental Music: Structure and Meaning in His Werther Quartet (Musical Meaning and Interpretation)

"This book is a substantial and timely contribution to Brahms studies. Its strategy is to focus on a single critical work, the C-Minor Piano Quartet, analyzing and interpreting it in great detail, but also using it as a stepping-stone to connect it to other central Brahms works in order to reach a new understanding of the composer's technical language and expressive intent. It is an original and worthy contribution on the music of a major composer." Patrick McCreless Expressive Forms in Brahms's Instrumental Music integrates a wide variety of analytical methods into a broader study of theoretical approaches, using a single work by Brahms as a case study. On the basis of his findings, Smith considers how Brahms's approach in this piano quartet informs analyses of similar works by Brahms as well as by Beethoven and Mozart. Musical Meaning and InterpretationRobert S. Hatten, editor "Johannes Brahms's dramatic Piano Quartet in C Minor, Opus 60, famously known as the Werther Quartet, forms the basis for Peter H. Smith's illuminating theoretical study. Throughout the book, Smith synthesizes the often-opposed approaches of Schenker and Schoenberg, discussing the interaction of different parameters (rhythm, form, key centers, etc.) in a "dimensional counterpoint," and addressing issues of expression in music - particularly those of tragedy and transcendence. Smith then extends his analysis beyond the isolated work, connecting the composer's approach in this piano quartet to comparable works by Brahms, and broadening the analysis to works of Beethoven and Mozart. The result is an elucidating and original interpretation of the music of a celebrated composer, and a significant addition to studies in music theory."--Jacket. Dedication 6 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction 12 1. Quintessential Brahms and the Paradox of the C-Minor Piano Quartet: A Representative yet Exceptional Work 14 Part One 40 2. Analytical Preliminaries: Brahms’s Sonata Forms and the Idea of Dimensional Counterpoint 42 3. A Schoenbergian Perspective: Compositional Economy, Developing Recapitulation, and Large-Scale Form 77 4. Brahms and Schenker: A Mutual Response to Sonata Form 119 5. Brahms’s Expository Strategies: Two-Part Second Groups, Three-Key Expositions, and Modal Shifts 133 Part Two 192 6. Toward an Expressive Interpretation: Correlations for Suicidal Despair 194 7. Intertextual Resonances: Tragic Expression, Dimensional Counterpoint, and the Great C-Minor Tradition 245 Notes 296 Bibliography 320 Index of Brahms’s Works 330 General Index 332

smith Integrates A Wide Variety Of Analytical Methods Into A Broader Study Of Theoretical Approaches, Using A Single Work By Brahms As A Case Study. On The Basis Of His Findings, He Considers How Brahms's Approach In His Piano Quartet Informs Analysis Of Similar Works By Brahms As Well As By Beethoven And Mozart.