View source for Piano Concerto No. 2 (Brahms)

{{Short description|Piano concerto by Brahms}}
{{Infobox musical composition
| name                = {{nowrap|Piano Concerto in B{{music|flat}} major}}
| subtitle            = No. 2
| type                = 
| composer            = [[Johannes Brahms]]
| image               = Johannes Brahms by Luckhardt c1885.png
| image_upright       = 
| alt                 = 
| caption             = Brahms in 1885
| opus                = 83
| composed            = {{Start date|1878}}–1881
| dedication          = [[Eduard Marxsen]]
| performed           = {{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|1881|11|09|df=y}}|location=Budapest}}
| movements           = four
}}
The '''Piano Concerto No.&nbsp;2''' in [[B-flat major|B{{music|b}} major]], [[Opus number|Op.]]&nbsp;83, by [[Johannes Brahms]] is separated by a gap of 22 years from his [[Piano Concerto No. 1 (Brahms)|first piano concerto]]. Brahms began work on the piece in 1878 and completed it in 1881 while in [[Pressbaum]] near [[Vienna]]. It took him three years to work on this concerto, which indicates that he was always self-critical. He wrote to Clara Schumann: "I want to tell you that I have written a very small piano concerto with a very small and pretty scherzo." He was ironically describing a huge piece.<ref name="laphil.com">{{Cite web|title=Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 83 (Johannes Brahms)|url=https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/pieces/2754/piano-concerto-no-2-in-b-flat-major-op-83|website=LA Phil|language=en|access-date=2020-05-20}}</ref> This concerto is dedicated to his teacher, [[Eduard Marxsen]]. The public premiere of the concerto was given in [[Budapest]] on 9 November 1881, with Brahms as soloist and the [[Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra]], and was an immediate success.<ref name="allsen2002"/> He proceeded to perform the piece in many cities across Europe.<ref name="w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de">{{cite web |first=Elizabeth Schwarm |last=Glesner |title=Johannes Brahms – Piano Concerto No.2, Op.83 |url=http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/brahms_piano_con2.html |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20100528035605/http%3A//w3%2Erz%2Dberlin%2Empg%2Ede/cmp/brahms_piano_con2%2Ehtml |archive-date= May 28, 2010 |date=October 10, 2000 |access-date=April 18, 2015}}</ref>

The piece is scored for 2 [[flute]]s, 2 [[oboe]]s, 2 [[clarinet]]s (B{{music|flat}}), 2 [[bassoon]]s, 4 [[French horn|horns]] (initially 2 in B{{music|flat}} bass, 2 in F), 2 [[trumpet]]s (B{{music|flat}}), [[timpani]] (B{{music|flat}} and F, A and D in second movement) and [[String instrument|strings]]. (The trumpets and timpani are used only in the first two movements, which is unusual.)<ref name="laphil.com"/>

The piece is in four [[movement (music)|movements]], rather than the three typical of concertos in the [[Classical period (music)|Classical]] and [[Romantic music|Romantic]] periods:
{{ordered list|list_style_type=upper-roman
|Allegro non troppo (B{{music|flat}} major)
|Allegro appassionato (D minor)
|Andante (B{{music|flat}} major—F{{music|sharp}} major—B{{music|flat}} major)
|Allegretto grazioso—Un poco più presto (B{{music|flat}} major)
}}

The additional movement results in a concerto considerably longer than most other concertos written up to that time, with typical performances lasting around 50 minutes. Upon its completion, Brahms sent its score to his friend, the [[surgery|surgeon]] and [[violin]]ist [[Theodor Billroth]] to whom Brahms had dedicated his first two [[string quartet]]s, describing the work as "some little piano pieces."<ref name="w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de"/> Brahms even described the stormy scherzo as a "little wisp of a scherzo."<ref name="allsen2002">{{cite web|last=Allsen|first=J. Michael
|year=2002|title=Johannes Brahms – Piano Concerto No. 2
|publisher=[[Galveston, Texas#Arts and culture|Galveston Symphony Orchestra]]
|url=http://www.galvestonsymphony.org/composers/JBrahms_PianoConc2.html
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100411091451/http://www.galvestonsymphony.org/composers/JBrahms_PianoConc2.html
|archive-date=April 11, 2010}}</ref>

The autograph manuscript of the concerto is preserved in the [[University of Hamburg#Facilities and associated institutes |Hamburg State and University Library Carl von Ossietzky]].

==Description==
The work opens with the following horn call, which provides much of the thematic material for the first movement:
<score sound="1">
\relative c'
{ 
\set Staff.midiInstrument = #"french horn"
\key bes 
\major
\time 4/4 
\tempo 4 = 92
bes4( c d) \times 2/3 {es8( d c)} 
d4( f2.) 
r1
bes4( f es) \times 2/3 {d8( c bes)}
c4( f2.)
}
</score>

===Allegro non troppo===

{{Listen|type=music|filename=NBC Symphony Orchestra - Arturo Toscanini and Vladimir Horowitz - Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 83 - 1st movement (Part 1) - Allegro non troppo - Hmv-db5861-2a048837.ogg|title=First movement, part 1 (4:02)|
filename2=NBC Symphony Orchestra - Arturo Toscanini and Vladimir Horowitz - Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 83 - 1st movement (Part 2) - Allegro non troppo - Hmv-db5861-2a048838.flac|title2=First movement, part 2 (4:28)||description2=[[NBC Symphony Orchestra]] with [[Arturo Toscanini]] and [[Vladimir Horowitz]] at [[Carnegie Hall]] in 1940}}

[[File:Orchesterwerke Romantik Themen.pdf|450px|page=121]]

The first movement is in the concerto variant of [[sonata form]]. The main theme is introduced by the [[French horn|horn]] solo, with the piano interceding. The woodwind instruments proceed to introduce a small motif (borrowed, perhaps unconsciously, from the opening of the first movement of his [[Serenades (Brahms)#Serenade No. 2 in A.2C Op. 16|Serenade No.&nbsp;2]]) before an unusually placed [[cadenza]] appears. The full orchestra repeats the theme and introduces more motifs in the orchestral exposition. The piano and orchestra work together to develop these themes in the piano exposition before the key changes to F minor (from F major, the dominant) and the piano plays a powerful and difficult section before the next orchestral tutti appears. The development, like many such sections in the Classical period, works its way from the dominant key back to the tonic while heavily developing themes. At the beginning of the recapitulation, the theme is replayed before a differing transition is heard, returning to the music heard in the piano exposition (this time in B{{music|flat}} major/minor). A coda appears after the minor key section, finishing off this movement.

One motif repeated in the development has been noted by musicologists as bearing similarity to the ''[[Battle Hymn of the Republic]]'' and ''[[Say, Brothers]]'', but it is unlikely Brahms knew of either hymn.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Stauffer|first1=John|last2=Soskis|first2=Benjamin|title=The Battle Hymn of the Republic: A Biography of the Song that Marches on|date=2013|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-983743-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/battlehymnofrepu0000stau/page/309 309]|url=https://archive.org/details/battlehymnofrepu0000stau|url-access=registration|quote=brahms piano concerto 2 battle hymn of the republic.|access-date=16 November 2015}}</ref>

===Allegro appassionato===
{{Listen|type=music|filename=NBC Symphony Orchestra - Arturo Toscanini and Vladimir Horowitz - Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 83 - 2nd movement (Conclusion) - Allegro appassionata - Hmv-db5863-2a048842.flac|title=Second movement, conclusion (3:40)|description=NBC Symphony Orchestra with Arturo Toscanini and Vladimir Horowitz at Carnegie Hall in 1940}}
[[File:Orchesterwerke Romantik Themen.pdf|450px|page=122]]

This [[scherzo]] is in the key of [[D minor]] and is in sonata form with a [[Ternary form#Trio form|trio]] inserted in the development.<ref>{{cite thesis |first=Melinda |last=Erickson |title=A Formal Analysis of Four Selected Piano Concertos of the Romantic Era |chapter-url=https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/ttu-ir/bitstream/handle/2346/18597/31295002268463.pdf?sequence=1 |chapter=Brahms Piano Concerto in B flat Major Op. 83 |page=79 |degree=MM |institution=[[Texas Tech University]] |date=August 1974 |access-date=15 January 2018}}</ref> Contrary to Brahms' "tiny wisp of a scherzo" remark, it is a tumultuous movement. The piano and orchestra introduce the theme and develop it before a quiet section intervenes. Soon afterwards the piano and orchestra launch into a stormy development of the theme before coming to the central episode (in D major). The central episode is brisk and begins with the full orchestra before yet another quiet section intervenes; then the piano is integrated into the orchestral effect to repeat the theme of the central episode. The beginning section returns but is highly varied.

===Andante===
{{Listen|type=music|filename=NBC Symphony Orchestra - Arturo Toscanini and Vladimir Horowitz - Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 83 - 3rd movement (Conclusion) - Andante - Hmv-db5865-2a048845.flac|title=Third movement, conclusion (3:42)|description=NBC Symphony Orchestra with Arturo Toscanini and Vladimir Horowitz at Carnegie Hall in 1940}}
[[File:Orchesterwerke Romantik Themen.pdf|450px|page=123]]

The slow movement is in the tonic key of B{{music|flat}} major and is unusual in utilizing an extensive [[cello]] solo within a piano concerto (the source of this idea may be [[Clara Schumann]]'s [[Piano Concerto (Clara Schumann)|Piano Concerto]], which features a slow movement scored only for cello and piano). Brahms subsequently rewrote the cello's theme and changed it into a song, ''Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer'' ("My Slumber Grows Ever More Peaceful") with lyrics by [[Hermann Lingg]]. ([[Fünf Lieder, Op. 105 (Brahms)|Op.&nbsp;105, No.&nbsp;2]]). Within the concerto, the cello plays the theme for the first three minutes, before the piano comes in.  However, the gentler melodic piece that the piano plays soon gives way to a stormy theme in B{{music|flat}} minor. When the storm subsides, still in the minor key, the piano plays a transitional motif that leads to the key of F{{music|sharp}} major, before the cello comes in to reprise, in the wrong key, and knowing that it has to get back to B{{music|flat}} major, the piano and the orchestra make a brief transition to E major before finishing off the theme in its original home key of B{{music|flat}} major.  After the piano plays the transitional motifs, the piano quickly reprises the middle section before the final coda is established.

===Allegretto grazioso—Un poco più presto===
{{Listen|type=music|filename=NBC Symphony Orchestra - Arturo Toscanini and Vladimir Horowitz - Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 83 - 4th movement (Part 1) - Allegretto grazioso - Hmv-db5865-2a048846.flac|title=Fourth movement, part 1 (3:29)|
filename2=NBC Symphony Orchestra - Arturo Toscanini and Vladimir Horowitz - Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 83 - 4th movement (Part 2) - Allegretto grazioso - Hmv-db5866-2a048847.flac|title2=Fourth movement, part 2 (2:14)|
filename3=NBC Symphony Orchestra - Arturo Toscanini and Vladimir Horowitz - Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 83 - 4th movement (Conclusion) - Allegretto grazioso - Hmv-db5866-2a048848.flac|title3=Fourth movement, conclusion (2:55)|description3=NBC Symphony Orchestra with Arturo Toscanini and Vladimir Horowitz at Carnegie Hall in 1940}}
[[File:Orchesterwerke Romantik Themen.pdf|450px|page=124]]

The last movement consists of five clearly distinguishable sections, which introduce and develop five different themes.

The first section (bars 1 to 64) presents themes 1 and 2. The first theme (also the  "main theme") (1–8) is first played by the piano and then repeated by the orchestra: it begins with a copy of measures 40-41 of the last movement of Mozart's piano concerto No. 27 (also in B flat). The second theme (16–20) is likewise presented by the piano and repeated – and expanded – by the orchestra. Finally, a kind of development of the first theme leads on to the next section.

The second section (65–164) contains the next three themes. Theme 3 (65–73) is very different from the previous ones, due largely to its minor setting and its distinctive Hungarian rhythm. Theme 4 (81–88) is still in a minor and theme 5 (97–104) is in F major. These three themes are each repeated back and forth several times, which gives the section the character of a development.

The third section (165–308) can be seen as a reprise of the first; it is built on the first two themes, but a striking new element is given in 201–205 and repeated in 238–241.

The fourth section (309–376) reprises themes 3, 5 and 4, in that order.

The final section, the coda, is built on the main theme, but even here (398) Brahms presents a new element, restating the main theme in triple rhythm (a device he used earlier to end his violin concerto) over a little march, first played by the piano, then answered by the orchestra, which trades themes with the soloist before the final chords.
<!--Sources for "notable"? and sources generally==Notable interpretations==
{{More citations needed section|date=May 2013}}
*[[Géza Anda]] with [[Herbert von Karajan]] and the [[Berliner Philharmoniker]] (recorded in 1967) and earlier with the same orchestra conducted by [[Ferenc Fricsay]] (recorded in 1960, both on Deutsche Grammophon)
*[[Claudio Arrau]] with [[Bernard Haitink]] and the [[Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra]] (recorded in 1969 on Philips)
*[[Vladimir Ashkenazy]] with [[Bernard Haitink]] and the [[Wiener Philharmoniker]] (recorded in 1984 on London/Polygram Records)
*[[Emanuel Ax]] with [[Bernard Haitink]] and the [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]] (recorded in 1997 on Sony)
*[[Wilhelm Backhaus]] with [[Karl Böhm]] and the [[Staatskapelle Dresden]] (recorded in 1939 on EMI) and with the [[Wiener Philharmoniker]] (recorded in 1953 and in 1967 both on Decca)
*[[Daniel Barenboim]] with [[Sergiu Celibidache]] and the [[Münchner Philharmoniker]] (recorded live in 1991)
*[[İdil Biret]] with [[Antoni Wit]] and the [[Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra]] (recorded in 2000 on Naxos Records)
*[[Van Cliburn]] with [[Kirill Kondrashin]] and the [[Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra]] (recorded live in concert in 1972, remastered and released by [[RCA Victor Red Seal]] Label in 1994)
*Van Cliburn with [[Fritz Reiner]] and the [[Chicago Symphony Orchestra]] (studio recording made in 1962 on [[RCA Victor Red Seal|RCA Living Stereo]], LSC-2581, in 1962)
*[[Edwin Fischer]] with [[Wilhelm Furtwängler]] and the [[Berliner Philharmoniker]] (recorded live in 1942 on Deutsche Grammophon)
*[[Leon Fleisher]] with [[George Szell]] and the [[Cleveland Orchestra]] (recorded in 1962 on Epic)
*[[Nelson Freire]] with [[Riccardo Chailly]] and the [[Gewandhausorchester]] (2006, [[Decca Records|Decca]])<ref>
{{cite web
 |url=http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2006/Aug06/Brahms_Freire_4757637.htm
 |title=BRAHMS Piano Concertos Freire - CD review
 |last=Haywood
 |first=Tony
 |website=www.musicweb-international.com
 |publisher=MusicWeb International
 |access-date=17 February 2019
}}</ref>
*[[Bruno Leonardo Gelber]] with [[Rudolf Kempe]] and the [[Royal Philharmonic Orchestra]] (recorded in 1973 on EMI)
*[[Emil Gilels]] with [[Eugen Jochum]], and the [[Berliner Philharmoniker]] (recorded in 1972 on Deutsche Grammophon), and an earlier interpretation with [[Fritz Reiner]] and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (recorded in 1958 on RCA Victor)
*[[Hélène Grimaud]] with [[Andris Nelsons]] and the [[Vienna Philharmonic]] (2013, Deutsche Grammophon)
*[[Horacio Gutiérrez]] with [[André Previn]] and the [[Royal Philharmonic Orchestra]] (recorded in 1988 on Telarc Digital)
*[[Vladimir Horowitz]] with [[Arturo Toscanini]] and the [[NBC Symphony Orchestra]] (recorded in 1940 on RCA Victor)
*[[Stephen Kovacevich]] with Sir [[Colin Davis]] and the [[London Symphony Orchestra]] (recorded in 1979 on Philips)
*[[Alicia de Larrocha]] with [[Eugen Jochum]] and the [[Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin]] (recorded live in 1981, remastered and released by Weitblick Label in 2009)
*[[Ivan Moravec]] with [[Jiří Bělohlávek]] and [[Czech Philharmonic Orchestra]] (recorded in 1988 on Supraphon)
*[[Maurizio Pollini]] with [[Claudio Abbado]] and the [[Wiener Philharmoniker]] (recorded in 1976) and performed later with the [[Berliner Philharmoniker]] (recorded live in 1995, both on Deutsche Grammophon)
*[[Sviatoslav Richter]] with [[Erich Leinsdorf]] and [[Chicago Symphony Orchestra]] (won for Best Classical Performance – Instrumental Soloist or Soloists (with orchestra) at the [[Grammy Awards of 1961]]), and an earlier interpretation with [[Yevgeny Mravinsky]] as well as a later one with the [[Orchestre de Paris]] conducted by Lorin Maazel (recorded in 1969 on His Master's Voice)
*[[Arthur Rubinstein]] with [[Witold Rowicki]] and the [[Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra]] (live recording, 1960). Rubinstein made earlier recordings with the [[RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra]] conducted by [[Josef Krips]] (RCA Victor, 1958), with the [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]] and [[Charles Munch (conductor)|Charles Munch]] (recorded in 1952 on RCA) and the [[London Symphony Orchestra]] under [[Albert Coates (musician)|Albert Coates]] (the first recording of this work, made in 1929 on the His Master's Voice Label), as well as a later interpretation with the [[Philadelphia Orchestra]] under [[Eugene Ormandy]] (recorded in 1971 also on RCA Victor)
*György Sandor with Rolf Reinhardt and Baden-Baden Radio Symphony Orchestra
*[[Artur Schnabel]] with [[Adrian Boult]] and [[BBC Symphony Orchestra]] (recorded in 1935)
*[[Rudolf Serkin]] with [[George Szell]] and the [[Cleveland Orchestra]] (recorded in 1966 on Columbia)
*[[André Watts]] with [[Leonard Bernstein]] and the [[New York Philharmonic]] (recorded in 1968 on Columbia)
*[[Igor Zhukov]] with [[Gennady Rozhdestvensky]] and the [[Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow Radio]]
*[[Krystian Zimerman]] with [[Leonard Bernstein]] and the [[Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra]] (recorded in 1985 on Deutsche Grammophon)-->

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://digitalisate.sub.uni-hamburg.de/recherche/detail?tx_dlf%5Bid%5D=41923&tx_dlf%5Bpage%5D=3&tx_dlf_navigation%5Bcontroller%5D=Navigation&cHash=3d25453da70273f3e3f83a1070fe6d7b Piano Concerto No. 2]: Brahms' autograph manuscript in the Hamburg State and University Library Carl von Ossietzky
{{external media
| topic  = Performed by [[Krystian Zimerman]] with the [[Vienna Philharmonic]] under [[Leonard Bernstein]]
| audio1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03k4K1EO3d0 I. Allegro non troppo]
| audio2 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IO6OmTFcsw II. Allegro appassionato]
| audio3 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTd4FioK_RM III. Andante - Più adagio]
| audio4 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TscEXUTKcTw IV. Allegretto grazioso - Un poco più presto]
}}
* {{IMSLP|work=Piano_Concerto_No.2_Op.83_%28Brahms%2C_Johannes%29|cname=Piano Concerto No. 2}}
*{{cite web |url=http://www.bh2000.net/score/orchbrah/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140820135322/http://www.bh2000.net/score/orchbrah/ |archive-date=August 20, 2014 |title=Brahms' Orchestra Works |work=(free music score of this composition available. In public domain.)}}
*[http://juilliardmanuscriptcollection.org/manuscript/piano-concerto-2-op-83-b-flat-major-arr-2-pianos/ Arranged for 2 pianos; annotated in composer's hand] at The Juilliard Manuscript Collection
* {{youTube|ulnTZqx5WNA|Piano Concerto No. 2}} played by [[Arthur Rubinstein]], [[Charles Munch (conductor)|Charles Munch]], [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpUBlA0OWLM&list=OLAK5uy_nw5sAu6AgHwleWMYzicyAsgjPrW_qCOFM&index=5 Piano Concerto No. 2] played by [[Claudio Arrau]], [[Carlo Maria Giulini]], [[Philharmonia Orchestra]]
* {{youTube|nPEKLfjiRhc|Piano Concerto No. 2}} played by [[Sviatoslav Richter]], [[Charles Munch (conductor)|Charles Munch]], [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]]

{{Johannes Brahms}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Concertos by Johannes Brahms]]
[[Category:Piano concertos|Brahms 02]]
[[Category:1881 compositions]]
[[Category:Stefan Zweig Collection]]
[[Category:Compositions in B-flat major]]
[[Category:Music dedicated to students or teachers]]
[[Category:Piano compositions by Johannes Brahms]]