The Double Concerto in A minor, Op. 102, by Johannes Brahms is a concerto for violin, cello and orchestra, composed in 1887 as his last work for orchestra.

Origin of the work The Double Concerto was Brahms' final work for orchestra. It was composed in the summer of 1887, and first performed on 18 October of that year at the in Cologne.Huth, Andrew: Concerto for violin and cello in A minor 'Double Concerto', Op 102 Hyperion 2022Cheltenham Symphony Orchestra: program notes Brahms approached the project with anxiety over writing for instruments that were not his own.He disguised his reservations with joyless joking in his letter to Clara Schumann: "...I have had the amusing idea of writing a concerto for violin and cello. If it is at all successful it might give us some fun. You can well imagine the sort of pranks one might play in such a case," he wrote, adding "I ought to have handed on the idea to some who knows the violin better than I do." Litzmann, Schumann/Brahms Letters 8/1887, quoted by Jan Swafford, Johannes Brahms: a biography 1997:539. He wrote it for the cellist Robert Hausmann, a frequent chamber music collaborator,For Hausmann he had written the Second Cello Sonata the previous summer. and his old but estranged friend, the violinist Joseph Joachim. The concerto was, in part, a gesture of reconciliation towards Joachim, after their long friendship had ruptured following Joachim's divorce from his wife Amalie."This concerto is a work of reconciliation— Joachim and Brahms have spoken to each other again for the first time in years", Clara Schumann noted in her journal after a rehearsal in Baden-Baden in September 1887. (Brahms had sided with Amalie in the dispute.)

The concerto makes use of the musical motif A–E–F, a permutation of F–A–E, which stood for a personal motto of Joachim, Frei aber einsam ("free but lonely"). Thirty-four years earlier, Brahms had been involved in a collaborative work using the F-A-E motif in tribute to Joachim: the F-A-E Sonata of 1853.

Structure

The composition consists of three movements in the fast–slow–fast pattern typical of classical instrumental concerti:

Scoring The orchestra consists of 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani and strings.

Performance and reception Joachim and Hausmann performed the concerto, with Brahms at the podium, several times in its initial 1887–88 season, and Brahms gave the manuscript to Joachim, with the inscription "To him for whom it was written." Clara Schumann reacted unfavourably to the concerto, considering the work "not brilliant for the instruments". Richard Specht also thought critically of the concerto, describing it as "one of Brahms' most inapproachable and joyless compositions". Brahms had sketched a second concerto for violin and cello but destroyed his notes in the wake of its cold reception. Later critics have warmed to it: Donald Tovey wrote of the concerto as having "vast and sweeping humour". Its performance requires two brilliant and equally matched soloists.

Scholarly discussion Richard Cohn has included the first movement of this concerto in his discussions of triadic progressions from a Neo-Riemannian perspective. Cohn has also analysed such progressions mathematically. Cohn notes several progressions that divide the octave equally into three parts, and which can be analyzed using the triadic transformations proposed by Hugo Riemann.

Discography

Jacques Thibaud and Pablo Casals, Orquestra Pau Casals Alfred Cortot (1929).HMV DB1311-1314/Victor V-8208-8211. Jascha Heifetz and Emanuel Feuermann, Philadelphia Orchestra Eugene Ormandy (1939).HMV/Victor 78rpm:Naxos CD Mischa Mischakoff and Frank Miller, NBC Symphony Orchestra Arturo Toscanini (live radio and TV broadcast 1948). Adolf Busch and Herman Busch, French National Radio Orchestra Paul Kletzki (live Strasbourg 1949).Music and Arts MACD 108 Georg Kulenkampff and Enrico Mainardi, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande Carl Schuricht (1947).Decca 78rpm AK2025-2028: Archipel CD ARPCD 0301 Willi Boskovsky and Emanuel Brabec,Cellist of the Barylli Quartet, Brabec was teacher of Nikolaus Harnoncourt at Vienna. Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Wilhelm Furtwängler (1950 live recording).Dynamic IDIS Hist. CD IDI 6554 Nathan Milstein and Gregor Piatigorsky, Philadelphia Robin Hood Dell Orchestra Fritz Reiner (1951).Naxos CD 8.111051 Jean Fournier and Antonio Janigro,Fournier and Janigro played together with Paul Badura-Skoda in a trio ensemble. Vienna State Opera Orchestra Hermann Scherchen (1952).Westminster LP WLP 5117. Gioconda de Vito and Amadeo Baldovino,Student of Camillo Oblach's at the G.B. Martini School of Music, Bologna, Baldovino was cellist with the Trio Italiano d'Archi and the Trio di Trieste: see here. Philharmonia Orchestra Rudolf Schwarz (1952).HMV BLP 1028 David Oistrakh and Pierre Fournier, Philharmonia Orchestra Alceo Galliera (1956).HMV/EMI SXLP 30185. Isaac Stern and Leonard Rose, Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of New York Bruno Walter (1956).Philips LP ABL 3139/3289. Zino Francescatti and Samuel Mayes, Boston Symphony Orchestra Charles Munch (April 1956 live recording).Music and Arts, West Hill Radio Archive WHRA 6017. Zino Francescatti and Pierre Fournier, Columbia Symphony Orchestra Bruno Walter (1960).Columbia ML 5493. Zino Francescatti and Pierre Fournier, BBC Symphony Orchestra Sir Malcolm Sargent (date of recording: 30/08/1955).BBC CD L4149 2. Wolfgang Schneiderhan and Enrico Mainardi,Schneiderhan succeeded Georg Kulenkampff as violin in the trio ensemble with Mainardi and Edwin Fischer after Kulenkampff died. Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Karl Böhm (date of recording: 08/25/1957).Orfeo CD C 359941B. Jascha Heifetz and Gregor Piatigorsky, RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra Alfred Wallenstein (1961).RCA LD(S)2513 Salvatore Accardo and Siegfried Palm,Palm was a pupil of Mainardi's, and a President of the European String Teachers' Association: see interview here. Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma della RTV Italiana cond Bruno Maderna (live 1961 Milan).Movimento Musica srl Milano (WEA Italiana) 01.017 33/30 DP Wolfgang Schneiderhan and János Starker, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra Ferenc Fricsay (1962).DG 139126 Alfredo Campoli and André Navarra, Hallé Orchestra John Barbirolli (1963).Vanguard SRV-136 SD. Josef Suk and André Navarra, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra Karel Ančerl (c.1963).Supraphon LP SUA ST 50573. David Oistrakh and Mstislav Rostropovich, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra Kirill Kondrashin (live 1963).BBC CD L41972 David Oistrakh and Mstislav Rostropovich, Cleveland Orchestra George Szell (1970).HMV ASD 3312 Christian Ferras and Paul Tortelier, Philharmonia Orchestra Paul Kletzki (1964).Testament CD SBT 1337. Yehudi Menuhin and Maurice Gendron, London Symphony Orchestra István Kertész (Bath Festival 1964).BBC CD L4252 2 Yehudi Menuhin and Leslie Parnas,Leslie Parnas Casals Festival Orchestra Pablo Casals (1969).Doremi CD DHR 7844 Henryk Szeryng and János Starker, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Bernard Haitink (1971).Philips 6500 137 Yan Pascal Tortelier and Paul Tortelier, BBC Symphony Orchestra John Pritchard (1974).BBC CD L42362. Salvatore Accardo and Heinrich Schiff, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig Kurt Masur (1979)Philips 9500 623. Itzhak Perlman and Mstislav Rostropovich, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink (1980).HMV ASD 3905; EMI CDC 7 49486 2. Anne-Sophie Mutter and Antônio Meneses, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Herbert von Karajan (1983).DG 410 603-1. Emmy Verhey and János Starker, Amsterdam Philharmonic Orchestra (nl) Arpad Joó (1983).SEFD 5023 (Sefel Records) Gidon Kremer and Mischa Maisky, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Leonard Bernstein (1984).DG 410 031-1; DGG DVD 000983409. Yehudi Menuhin and Paul Tortelier, London Philharmonic Orchestra Paavo Berglund (1984).EMI EG 27 0268 1. Isaac Stern and Yo-Yo Ma, Chicago Symphony Orchestra Claudio Abbado (1988).CBS Masterworks Mk 42387. Raphael Wallfisch and Lydia Mordkovitch (violin), London Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi. Label Chandos (1989). Ilya Kaler and Maria Kliegel, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland Andrew Constantine (1995). Gidon Kremer and , Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Nikolaus Harnoncourt (1997).Teldec – 0630-13137-2. Itzhak Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma, Chicago Symphony Orchestra Daniel Barenboim (1997).Teldec 0630-15870-2. Gil Shaham and Jian Wang, Berliner Philharmoniker Claudio Abbado (2002).CD DG 4695292. Julia Fischer and Daniel Müller-Schott, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra Yakov Kreizberg (2007).PTC 5186 066 (PentaTone Classics). Renaud Capuçon and Gautier Capuçon, Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester Myung-Whun Chung (2007).Virgin Classics 00946 395147 2 4. Vadim Repin and Truls Mørk, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra Riccardo Chailly (2009).CD DG 4777470. Antje Weithaas and Maximilian Hornung, NDR Radiophilharmonie Andrew Manze (2019).cpo 555 172-2.

References

External links

Adaptation of the work as a Cello Concerto