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Brahms’ Brahms’ Brahms’ Third Third Third

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Brahms’ Brahms’ Brahms’ Third Third Third
In his early days, Brahms was attracted to the traditional form of classical music specifically Beethoven and Haydn. When the original form of the symphony was created, many composers tried to follow and fit the same mold. In this third symphony from an older Brahms, we see that he fits this mold by having this symphony divided into a fast-slow-minuet-fast. Just years before Brahms wrote his first symphony, he was declared as the heir to Beethoven. This obviously had pressure on Brahms at that point in his life, therefore he had to shift from a more traditional form of writing to making it original as shown in this third symphony even though he followed Beethoven and Haydn’s traditional form. It’s as if he had this heaviness of the past on his shoulders, yet we listen to his genuine response towards this feeling. Yes he followed this form, but we can see Brahms’ rhythmic display, motivic thinking, motivic saturation, and above all his musical wisdom. That being said, I'm a firm believer that music comes from within a person and I really do believe that Brahms felt this way toward his music. What we listen to today, are movements that put together, have become masterpieces and models for many composers.

Brahms third symphony is similar to Haydn’s conception of the symphony which he shows in his Oxford creation. It starts with a fast allegro movement, followed by a slow andante movement, later has a scherzo, and finally an allegro

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