Brahms, Op. 34.
A little farther on in this movement we meet with a melodious fragment very characteristic of this composer. Three notes, embraced within the range of a minor third, are used together in contrary motion, and furnish a theme which, although curiously simple, plays a considerable part in the development of the movement:—
Brahms, Op. 34.
It has been urged against the scherzo which follows that it inclines too much to be orchestral in effect, and of the finale that it is, as one writer has it, “overcharged with subject-matter.” But however this may be as regards these two movements, it will hardly be disputed that in the andante, whose opening passage is quoted below, we have music of rare and solemn beauty, deep yet clear, profound yet spontaneous. We quote the pianoforte part, which is accompanied with a subdued imitative figure by the first violin and viola, while the ’cello plays a few pizzicato bass notes:—
Brahms, Op. 34.
