The purpose of this study is to investigate the poetic and emotional aspects hidden in the world of work of Johannes Brahms(1833-1897), who represents reason and logical composition method. Therefore, this study focuses on Brahms's piano work, focusin ...
The purpose of this study is to investigate the poetic and emotional aspects hidden in the world of work of Johannes Brahms(1833-1897), who represents reason and logical composition method. Therefore, this study focuses on Brahms's piano work, focusing on the creative inspiration from his personal experience, and also focuses on how much this is related to musical expression. This study presents a balanced view of music history by studying the emotional characteristics inherent in Brahms’s music, breaking away from the dichotomous aesthetics('program music vs. absolute music') of the time surrounding Brahms.
This research is based on an integrated method of literature review and music analysis. The works of German Romantic writers who have had a profound influence since the early days of Brahms and their spirit are the key to understanding Brahms's poetic characteristics. By examining German romantic literatures and Brahms's records of the excerpts, I explored in-depth how ‘Poesie’ as the spirit of German Romanticism, motifs that ideally express ‘Poesie’(eternity, infinity, pain, death, and longing), ‘Ironie’ as self-criticism and a fragment form are implemented in his musical language. In addition, by closely examining the primary literature such as contributions from scholars and musicians of the time, correspondence, and memoirs from acquaintances, the work is viewed through the composition, performance background, and context of various circumstances.
Brahms's late character pieces were composed when he stepped down from official compositional activities and became free from the aesthetic confrontation. His early piano sonatas were also dealt with together because they were relatively far from the aesthetic situation and were close to poetic sensibility. Brahms's early and late piano solo genres differ in formal style, but consistent poetic inspiration can be found throughout Brahms's composition.
As a result of the study, the following was identified as the intention to musicalize ‘Poesie’, ‘Ironie’ and ‘Fragment’ for the spirit of German Romanticism: choosing a genre of small-scale piece, frequent use of "Intermezzo" out of place in the movement constituting each series, and night (or moonlight) as a representative motif of Romanticism(for example op.116, no.4). As a result of analyzing the sonata form of Piano Sonata No. 3, which was composed with the program of a poem based on night, the reason for sticking to the traditional genre of sonata was not intended to stay in the tradition, but as a means of self-criticism.
As a result of this study, for Brahms, the program does not play a role in fully understanding his music, because in this worl it is impossible to complete, nothing can be described, and every individual, every moment, is intermediate and process. Brahms took this spirit seriously as his view of life and practiced it through all the things given to him: his life, his music, his compositional technique.