Tragic Overture (Brahms)
The Tragic Overture (German: Tragische Ouvertüre), Op. 81, is a concert overture for orchestra written by Johannes Brahms during the summer of 1880. It premiered, under Hans Richter, on 26 December 1880 in Vienna.[1] Most performances last between twelve and fifteen minutes.
Brahms chose the title "tragic" to emphasize the turbulent, tormented character of the piece, in essence a free-standing symphonic movement, in contrast to the mirthful ebullience of a companion piece he wrote the same year, the Academic Festival Overture. Despite its name, the Tragic Overture does not follow any specific dramatic program. Brahms summed up the effective difference in character between the two overtures when he declared "one is laughing, the other crying."[2]
Structure
Tragic Overture (13:50)
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The Tragic Overture comprises three main sections, all in the key of D minor.
- Allegro ma non troppo
- Molto più moderato
- Tempo primo ma tranquillo
Analysis
Theorists have disagreed in analyzing the form of the piece: Jackson finds Webster's multifarious description[citation needed] rather obscurist and prefers to label the work's form as a "reversed sonata design" in which the second group is recapitulated before the first, with Beethoven's Coriolan Overture as a possible formal model.[3]
Instrumentation
The work is scored for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, and strings.
References
- ^ Clive, Peter (October 2, 2006). Brahms and His World: A Biographical Dictionary. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9781461722809 – via Google Books.
- ^ Neunzig, Hans A. (1997). Brahms. Translated by Mitchell, Mike. London: Haus Publishing. p. 160. ISBN 1-904341-17-9.
- ^ Timothy L. Jackson, "Bruckner and tragic reversed sonata form", Bruckner Studies 1997, Cambridge University Press, pp. 172–178
Further reading
- Pascall, Robert, ed. (2008). Brahms: Biographical, Documentary and Analytical Studies. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-24522-7.
External links
- Tragic Overture, Op. 81 (Brahms): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
- Orrin, Howard. Program Notes: Tragic Overture, Op. 81 (archived 2016)
- Hansen, Kelly Dean (October 14, 2008). "Listening Guide: Tragic Overture (D minor), Op. 81". Brahms Listening Guides. – (Using a recording by Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic)
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- Academic Festival Overture
- Serenades
- Symphony No. 1 in C minor
- Symphony No. 2 in D major
- Symphony No. 3 in F major
- Symphony No. 4 in E minor
- Tragic Overture
- Variations on a Theme by Haydn
- Double Concerto
- Piano Concerto No. 1
- Piano Concerto No. 2
- Violin Concerto
with orchestra
- A German Requiem
- Alto Rhapsody
- Gesang der Parzen
- Nänie
- Rinaldo
- Schicksalslied
- Triumphlied
- Cello Sonata No. 1
- Cello Sonata No. 2
- Clarinet Quintet
- Clarinet Sonatas
- Clarinet Trio
- Horn Trio
- Piano Quartet No. 1
- Piano Quartet No. 2
- Piano Quartet No. 3
- Piano Quintet
- Piano Trio No. 1
- Piano Trio No. 2
- Piano Trio No. 3
- String Quartet No. 3
- String Quintet No. 1
- String Quintet No. 2
- String Sextet No. 1
- String Sextet No. 2
- Two String Quartets, Op. 51
- Violin Sonata No. 1
- Violin Sonata No. 2
- Violin Sonata No. 3
- Ballades, Op. 10
- Fantasies, Op. 116
- Four Pieces for Piano, Op. 119
- Hungarian Dances
- Piano Sonata No. 1
- Piano Sonata No. 2
- Piano Sonata No. 3
- Rhapsodies, Op. 79
- Six Pieces for Piano, Op. 118
- Sixteen Waltzes, Op. 39
- Three Intermezzi for piano, Op. 117
- Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel
- Variations on a Theme of Paganini
- Eleven Chorale Preludes
- Fest- und Gedenksprüche
- Fünf Gesänge, Op. 104
- Fünf Lieder, Op. 105
- Geistliches Lied
- Liebeslieder Waltzes, Op. 52
- Neue Liebeslieder
- Two Motets, Op. 74
- Two Songs for Voice, Viola and Piano, Op. 91
- Vier ernste Gesänge
- "Wiegenlied (Lullaby)", Op. 49, no. 4
- Zigeunerlieder
- 1818 Brahms
- Brahms (crater)
- Brahms Inlet
- Brahms House (Baden-Baden)
- Brahms Museum (Hamburg)
- Brahms Museum, Mürzzuschlag
- Brahms guitar
- Brahms-Institut
- Brahms-Preis
- German Romanticism
- International Johannes Brahms Competition
- Musical cryptogram
- Three Bs
- Op. 120, No. 1 (Berio)
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