Brahms: Symphony No. 3 | Music Documentary with Alondra de la Parra & the Münchner Symphoniker

A symphony full of melodies and beauty – Mexican conductor Alondra de la Parra performs Brahms’ Symphony No. 3 with the the Münchner Symphoniker at the Tutzing Brahmstage festival 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 6 / Dvořák, Symphony No. 7:    • Dvořák: Symphony No. 7 | Music Docume...  
Episode 7 / Brahms, Symphony No. 4:    • Brahms: Symphony No. 4 | Music Docume...  
Episode 8 / Dvořák, Symphony No. 6:    • Dvořák: Symphony No. 6 | Music Docume...  

Episode 5 at a glance:
00:00 Reflections on the 3rd movement of Brahms' Symphony No. 3
01:35 Working with the orchestra on the 1st movement
03:00 The ambiguity between major and minor in the 1st movement
03:46 The theme F – A-flat – F (Frei aber froh = free but happy) in the 1st movement
05:02 The use of the oboe in Brahms’ Symphony No. 3
06:42 The challenge for the cellists in Brahms' symphonies in general
08:15 The strong emotions in Brahms’ Symphony No. 3
09:31 The threatening moments in the 4th movement
11:40 The unusually quiet end of the 4th movement

Johannes Brahms’s Third Symphony is pure music. It dispenses with any programmatic statement. And hardly any letters or drafts connected to this composition from the summer of 1883 have been preserved. And yet the music evokes the most diverse associations in listeners. Clara Schumann, for example, associated it with romantic descriptions of nature: “How one is enveloped from beginning to end by the mysterious magic of forest life! I could not say which movement is my favorite”.

The core idea of Symphony No. 3 in F major can be reduced to a small motif of three notes. The composer’s genius is evident in the clever combination, interplay and variation. The third movement of the symphony has become especially famous. Brahms stylizes a simple folksong-like melody through small changes into a “Valse triste” with harmonic effects and a deeply romantic orchestration.

After visiting Brahms in Vienna in 1883, Antonín Dvořák said of the symphony: “I do not say and do not exaggerate that this work surpasses his first two symphonies; if not perhaps in greatness and powerful conception, then certainly in beauty! There is a mood in it such as one does not often find in Brahms. What glorious melodies are to be found there! It is pure love, and it makes your heart soar!”

The Tutzing Brahmstage is a small but elegant classical music festival. In 2022, it celebrated a double anniversary. The concert series was held for the 25th time and at the same time, it was the 125th anniversary of the death of the famous German composer. The Brahmstage festival takes place every year in Tutzing on Lake Starnberg in Upper Bavaria - the place where Brahms spent a summer composing important works in 1873. On four Sundays in October 2022, Brahms' four great symphonies were performed together with one symphony each by Antonin Dvořák - the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th - in the Church of St. Joseph.

As one of Munich's great symphony orchestras, the Münchner Symphoniker has been an integral part of the German musical landscape for over 75 years. They perform around 100 concerts a year in concert series in Munich, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Kempten, with guest appearances and tours in Germany and abroad. The renowned and experimental orchestra with musicians from 17 different nations presents varied programs on large concert and open-air stages, in clubs, at unusual locations as well as in its own venerable rehearsal hall at the well-known Bavaria Studios. The repertoire ranges from baroque music to classical and romantic works to film music, from modern classics to 21st century hip-hop and crossover.

Alondra de la Parra's interview partners are Zurab Gvantseladze, principal oboe, Jakob Haas, violoncello, 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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