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David Fhima
Theory and Analysis IV
Submitted to: Jon Wild
Analytical Interpretation of Johannes Brahms Symphony no. 2 in D Major, Op. 73
The first movement of Johannes Brahms 2 nd symphony (1877) is perhaps known for the
easily recognizable lullaby theme, but more importantly, it is the striking use of simplistic
motives and a shift from expected key relationships that makes it so appealing from a theoretical
standpoint. This essay will illuminate the insistence of these motives and how the different
sections of the piece relate to each other tonally and structurally through a formal and harmonic
analysis.
To begin, lets look at the exposition of the movement. It begins in the key of D major
with the opening statement of the main theme beginning in the low strings and immediately
followed by the French horns. The significance of the motives that are presented here in the first
few bars will be elaborated on further in this essay. The main theme type appears to be
something closely related to a compound period. The theme is divided in two sections: the first is
eight measures long, with the horns and woodwinds exchanging ideas every four bars; the
second is a close repetition of this; however, it is sequenced up a step in E minor and is extended
as the strings introduce a juxtaposed intervallic motif.

Figure 1 - mm. 17-24: Extension of Main Theme

This motif largely outlines A major, the dominant of D major, potentially suggesting that this is
now a transition section. This is all rather ambiguous moving forward; however, a big hint as to
where Brahms is actually heading comes up shortly. Following this intervallic idea, a short and
sombre trombone chorale is interpolated. This ultimately leads to rehearsal letter A where a new
theme is presented in the dominant key of A major. The instability of the last section and the
arrival of a new melody in this key all points to this now being a subordinate theme. As it can be
observed in Figure 2, this theme begins to unravel and destabilize, rhythmically and
harmonically.

Figure 2 - mm. 54-57

It breaks off into short 1 bar question-response type phrases between the oboes, horns and
strings. It further breaks down as the key shifts and begins to emphasize C# major in rehearsal
letter B. When the music finally arrives at letter C, we are now in F# minor and the real new
theme has arrived in the strings, otherwise known as the subordinate theme. We can now
retrospectively understand that the material at letter A is actually the beginning of the transition.
Since the subordinate themes key is the relative minor of A major, Brahms had to emphasize A
as a tonal center so that he could fluidly transition into the desired key of the subordinate theme.
Furthermore, the true goal of the transition, which is often the dominant of the subordinate key,
is achieved when the music begins to sit on C# in rehearsal B.
The subordinate theme is repeated at rehearsal D, this time in the woodwinds. At
rehearsal E, the entire orchestra becomes involved with fanfare-like music largely emphasizing
the key of E. Leading into measure 135, there appears to be a prolongation of E, that will soon
serve as an indication that the exposition is heading towards A major, the expected secondary
key. This section lasts for quite a while, with a stepwise idea circulating throughout the orchestra
while a syncopated pattern persists throughout.

Figure 3 - ex. Syncopated pattern with stepwise motif

This leads into rehearsal letter F where the subordinate theme is repeated again, this time
in A major. This is very interesting because we typically expect a subordinate key to be directly
related to the main themes key, and while F# minor is technically the mediant key of D major,
the music is in A major for quite a long time leading up to it, clearly suggesting that the tonal
relationship lies with that key, and not with D directly. Now that the subordinate theme is in A
major, it finally feels like the true tonal goal of the subordinate theme is attained. Furthermore, if
we look back at the music before F, it can almost be seen as transitory in nature, setting up the
arrival of A major with a prolongation of its own dominant.
This finally leads into the closing section of the exposition. There are two endings. What
is rather particular here is that the second ending nearly feels like a repeat of the exposition, with
the horn taking up the main theme again for a few measures. This is a neat device because if the
repeat of the exposition is not taken, this will play with the audiences expectations seeing as this
is actually the beginning of the development section and the theme will soon depart elsewhere. If
the repeat is taken, this will achieve a very similar effect, yet the impact could be even greater
because it could fool the listener into thinking that they are about to hear the same music for the
third time. This is just speculation, yet it does seem like Brahms may have had a trick or two up
his sleeve.
The development section of this movement is rather interesting. This is where Brahms
use of simple motives becomes particularly important.

Figure 4 - Motif 1 - Neighbouring

motion

Figure 5 - Motif 2

The first motif is simply a lower neighbour motion, whilst the second one appears as a half note
leaping upwards to a quarter note. As previously mentioned, the development section begins very
much like the exposition. However, the mood changes fairly rapidly, with a transformation of the
first motif at measure 195. The quarter notes are all articulated and are now sequenced with
upper neighbours instead of lower neighbours. At measure 204, Brahms combines and
transforms both motives to create a new phrase, beginning in the violins.

Figure 6 - Combination of both motives

The 3 quarter note pattern becomes a stepwise figure; the second motif is altered by reversing the
direction of the second instance of a half note followed by a quarter note. Furthermore, the
character of these motives are entirely changed from solemn and quiet, to frantic and aggressive.
This continues into letter G, where the trombones reprise their interpolated chorale, except this
time, they present the first motive in a pseudo-fugue and it sounds unlike anything weve heard
so far. Shortly after, at measure 236, Brahms integrates 6/8 passages alternating with 3/4
passages that mimic part of the transition from the exposition. This briefly turns into main
theme-like material. More transition material ensues and this time it is more developed.

Figure 7 - Juxtaposition of the Main theme and Transition

At measure 258, as shown in fig. 7, Brahms juxtaposes the main theme in the winds with the 6/8
music from the transition. Note that the eighth notes still portray the lower neighbour motif, and
the dotted quarters are reminiscent of the main theme because of the upward 3 rd motions. He then
returns to the transition theme and further elaborates it, and alternates between that and main
theme material a couple more times until the recapitulation is finally reached at rehearsal letter I.
The recapitulation has several interesting features. The differences between itself and the
exposition are most noteworthy for discussion. First of all, the first motif doesnt appear before
the main theme. Also, the main theme is reprised by the oboes instead of the horns, which is a
subtle touch because given the fact that the main theme appears so many times in the
development, it isnt obvious immediately that this is the recapitulation. Here is another instance
where it seems as if Brahms is using clever devices to play with the listeners expectations.

Another interesting feature is the transition. Typically, a recapitulation stays around the
home key, and since the exposition went relatively far away from D major, the transition ended
up being quite long in order to achieve F# minor. In the recapitulation, Brahms extends the
intervallic idea (as seen in fig. 1) and the trombone chorale follows as before. In this case, the
chorale leads directly into the subordinate theme because the subordinate key (B minor) is
already attained at this point. The tonal relationship here is very interesting because this is clearly
the relative minor of D major. This mirrors the relationship between the transition key (A major)
and the first presentation of the subordinate theme in the exposition. It seems that Brahms still
wanted to keep things interesting, so rather than stay in D for the subordinate theme, he simply
shifts to B minor. As before, the theme is eventually repeated in the local home key of D major,
the same as before where the theme was eventually presented in A major, the local home key in
that part of the exposition.
The rest of the recapitulation leading up to rehearsal letter M is virtually the same as the
exposition. M is where the coda begins. It opens with a powerful and evocative presentation of
the main theme. The solo horn tails out of this with a solo that has harmonic significance in the
overall scheme of this movement. It has been outlined throughout this essay that there are several
sections emphasizing dominants through extensive prolongations. A closer look at this French
horn solo (see attached reduction) will show that it is in fact a dominant prolongation, eventually
leading to an authentic cadence on the downbeat of measure 477. What is even more interesting
about this is that in this prolongation, there are several tonicizations that, whether they are
supposed to or not, end up on a mediant chord. The real dominant chord comes at the very end
and brings back the tonic. This organization of dominant and mediant functions emulates the
overall structure of the entire exposition in a mere 24 measures. Brahms achieves all this while

still making use of his motives, with the stepwise motion juxtaposed against the neighbouring
motion.
Finally, the movement offers one last surprise at measure 497. The mood shifts
completely into something rather jovial. In this section, Brahms uses the transition material from
rehearsal letter B that was not used in the recapitulations transition. The sudden change of
character is rather jarring. One last contracted instance of the main theme occurs in the horn and
trumpet before ending with a final D major chord.
To conclude, the first movement of Brahms 2nd symphony is a discretely brilliant piece
of writing, masked with the seemingly simplistic use of a couple short motives. The composer
found a very elegant way to handle the formal structure of the movement and all the tonal
relationships within it, without sacrificing the beauty of the music itself.

Figure 8 - French horn solo (Coda)