Brahms: Symphony No. 4 | Music Documentary with Alondra de la Parra & the Münchner Symphoniker

A master symphony with a rough and raw character. Mexican conductor Alondra de la Parra performs Brahms’s Symphony No. 4 with the Münchner Symphoniker at the Tutzing Brahmstage festival in 2022. During rehearsals, she talks about the famous work with musicians and experts.

DW Classical Music presents the eight-part series: Alondra de la Parra at the Brahmstage in Tutzing. The music documentaries will feature the 4 symphonies by Johannes Brahms and 4 symphonies by Antonín Dvořák.

Episode 1 / Brahms, Symphony No. 1:    • Brahms: Symphony No. 1 | Music Docume...  
Episode 2 / Dvořák, Symphony No. 8:    • Dvořák: Symphony No. 8 | Music Docume...  
Episode 3 / Brahms, Symphony No. 2:    • Brahms: Symphony No. 2 | Music Docume...  
Episode 4 / Dvořák, Symphony No. 9:    • Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 | Music Docume...  
Episode 5 / Brahms, Symphony No. 3:    • Brahms: Symphony No. 3 | Music Docume...  
Episode 6 / Dvořák, Symphony No. 7:    • Dvořák: Symphony No. 7 | Music Docume...  
Episode 8 / Dvořák, Symphony No. 6:    • Dvořák: Symphony No. 6 | Music Docume...  

Episode 7 at a glance:
00:00 Reflections on the meaning of the 4th Symphony by Brahms
01:34 Introduction by the conductor Alondra de la Parra
02:01 The progressiveness in the 4th symphony
02:32 Excerpt from the 1st movement
03:13 The beauty of the 2nd movement
03:33 Excerpt from the 2nd movement
03:51 The shift in tone in the 2nd movement
04:58 The concertmaster on the pizzicato in the 2nd movement
05:47 The concertmaster demonstrates the pizzicato
06:14 Alondra de la Parra on the architecture in the 2nd movement
06:57 The happy cheerful mood in the 3rd movement
07:40 Scherzo manner with lots of humour and joyful moments in the 3rd movement
08:17 Excerpt from 3rd movement of the 4th symphony
08:50 The use of triangle in the 3rd movement
09:11 The one theme of the 4th movement of the 4th symphony
09:56 Intensive rehearsal work
10:54 The 30 variations in the 4th movement
11:34 Model of the Bach cantata BWV 150 for the 4th movement
12:08 Demonstration of the flute solo at the beginning of the 4th movement
12:41 The flautist on the flute solo in the 4th movement
14:15 The flute solo as an insight into the soul of Johannes Brahms
14:57 The fatalistic ending 4th symphony by Brahms
15:36 The conductor on the finale of the 4th symphony by Brahms
15:56 The finale of the 4th symphony by Brahms

“For I fear it tastes of the local climate – the cherries here do not grow sweet.” This is how Brahms characterized his 4th Symphony in a letter to conductor Hans von Bülow in September 1885. A similar formulation is found in a letter to Elisabeth von Herzogenberg shortly earlier, which shows how important this reference to the connection between the place where his symphony was written and its character was to Brahms. The 4th Symphony was written during Brahms’s two summer stays in Mürzzuschlag, Styria in 1884 and 1885, where he enjoyed the mountainous landscape and the cool mountain air.

The 4th Symphony has been said to have a rough and austere character because of Brahms’s own reference to the “local climate”. The key of E Minor, which characterizes the first and last movements until the end, and the strict structure of the finale as a passacaglia or chaconne, certainly contribute to this assessment. The first movement begins in a decidedly soft and lyrical manner with a theme of thirds and sixths whose notes, placed one after the other, form a falling chain of thirds: b-g-e-c-a-f#-d#-b. This strict interval structure is just as typical of Brahms’s compositional technique as the contrapuntal-imitatorial treatment of the accompanying voices with numerous canon formations, creating a dense web of voices.

Brahms concluded his symphonic work with the Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98. At the same time, the 4th also marked the end of the classical-romantic symphony and its idea of enlightenment “through night to light”. The question of how Beethoven’s symphonic legacy could be continued was posed throughout 19th century. Brahms answered it in the finale of the 4th Symphony with a recourse to the Baroque chaconne or passacaglia with 30 variations plus coda. Relying on the majestic austerity and sublime grandeur of this time-tested variation model, Brahms achieved orchestral force and symphonic grandeur in this original way.

Alondra de la Parra's interview partners are Ulrike Kraew, concertmaster, Désirée Wolff, co-principal flute, and musicologist Stephan Beck.

Report & Direction:
Holm Weber

Co-direction:
Dorothee Binding

Camera:
Matthias Boch
Amadeus Hiller
Simon Hermann
Christian Berges
Daniel Stupat
Jan Klein
Holm Weber

Sound:
Sara Misztela

Make-up:
Nilgün Konya

Editing:
Klaus Hellmig

Color Correction:
Jan von Stebut

Production:
Benedict Mirow - Nightfrog GmbH

Commissioning Editor:
Reiner Schild

© Deutsche Welle 2023

Watch more videos with Musica Maestra Alondra de la Parra:
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