Bob Cole
Form & Analysis
8 May, 2014
Brahms Symphony No. 1 in C Minor - III. Un poco Allegretto e grazioso

In the beginning of this movement Brahms starts with a calm step-wise melody in the clarinets.

It lasts for five bars, rather than a more common four, and then happens again in the clarinets, but the

second time it is completely inverted. This entire theme, which we will call theme A, lasts for ten bars.

In measure eleven, the answering theme, or theme B, enters with the flutes, clarinets, and bassoons

descending on a distinct and lyrical dotted-eighth to sixteenth note rhythm. The strings join them

rhythmically but play counterpoint to the moving line rather than melody. Theme B plays for eight

bars and in measure 19 theme A returns but this time in the 1st violins and slightly altered. There is not

a change to the melody in the first five bars, but after the five bars there is a prolongation of the phrase

by the Oboes and flutes to make it last seven bars. The phrase continues as normal with the melody

still in the 1st violins and again the phrase is elongated but now by oboe and bassoon, instead of flute.

Due to these alterations this section will be called theme A', and not just A. Following this A' theme is

a return to theme B but just like A, Brahms alters it. The section plays the same as before lasting four

bars but then begins to change. The strings drop the dotted rhythm and begin playing out arpeggios

while the woodwinds begin to alter the original B theme. Over the course of this B' theme, instead of

going back to A-Flat Major, our home key in this movement, we notice accidentals emphasizing D flat

and on the down beat of measure forty five we arrive in F-minor, our relative minor key. At the arrival

of measure forty five we enter a brief contrasting section of