Brahms fourth and final symphony was completed in 1885 when the composer was fifty-two. It’s in e-minor and, generally, as the key signature might suggest, a work of darker hue – the exception being the third, scherzo, movement marked Allegro giocoso [Quickly, playful] in C-major (it’s the only scherzo movement to appear in a Brahms symphony, the other three all have slower tempo intermezzos).
The first, sonata form, movement beings quietly, almost in mid-thought; the theme being based on a series of descending and then ascending thirds:
The second movement, marked Andante moderato, lives in an interesting tonal world that hovers between the mediaeval Phrygian mode:
and the ‘modern’ key of E-major:
As explained above, the next movement is the light relief of the work, but it’s still a rather quirky Brahmsian affair being in 2/4 rather than the more usual 3/4 of scherzos and in sonata rather than scherzo form.
The finale is a passacaglia: a set of thirty-two variations on the – slightly altered (the a# in bar 5) – ground bass of the final chorus of Bach’s cantata No. 150 (Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich [For Thee, O Lord, I long]) which accompanies the text Meine Tage in den Leiden [My Days in Suffering]:
Brahms: Symphony No. 4 in e, Op. 98
00:00 Allegro non troppo
13:18 Andante moderato
24:49 Allegro giocoso – Poco meno presto – Tempo 1
31:04 Allegro energico e passionato – Più Allegro
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Pontarddulais!
The Art of Listening 