to a beat in one hand against two in the other. After a repetition
by the violin there is a spirited closing theme in measure 75,
of great importance later. The Development, one of Brahms’s
best, manifests real organic growth; there is nothing labored or
perfunctory. It is based on the first theme and the closing theme
of the Exposition,e.g.
[Music]
[Footnote 265: It is used at the beginning of three other well-
known melodies,e.g., the slow movement of Beethoven’sNinth
Symphony, in the middle part of Schumann’sAufschwungand
in the first phrase of Wagner’sPreislied.]
The Reprise beginning in measure 158, shows the usual treat-
ment. The Coda, from measure 219, is long and, like codas of
Beethoven, has features of a second development. The move-
ment ends with brilliant arpeggios in the pianoforte against
octaves and double stops in the violin. In the second move-
ment, Andante tranquillo, in F major, Brahms fuses[266] to-
gether the moods usually associated with the slow movement
and the scherzo, playing one off against the other; the slow
theme appearing three times—at its final appearance with elo-
quent modulations—and the rapid one twice, with contrast gained
the second time through pizzicato effects on the violin. The two
themes are as follows:—
[Music]
[Music]
[Footnote 266: This practice he has adopted in several other
works and it is also the structural feature in the slow movement
of César Franck’s D minor Symphony.]
The short, dashing Coda is based on the vivace theme, with
sonorous chords on the violin, both pizzicato and arco.
The Finale, Allegretto grazioso, is a convincing example of how
such a rigid form as the Older Rondo can be freshened up and
revitalized by the hand of a master, for the main theme,e.g.
[Music]
has such genuine melodic life that we always recur to it with
pleasure and yet at each appearance it is so deftly varied that no
monotony is felt. The two episodes afford stimulating contrasts