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LiSTeN TO . . . Example 14.1 online.
simultaneously and sweep across them with the bow. This imparts a richer, more chordal sound to the soloist’s part. Example 14.1 shows how Brahms in- corporates double stops (here, two or four pitches played simultaneously) into the melody of the last movement of his concerto.
Example 14.1 > double stops
WW24fCC TUCCCCCC CC TUCCCCCC CC CC CC CCCC CC TUCCCCCC CC TUCCCCCC CC TUCCCCCC CC CCWCC CC CCgT S
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Figure 14.6
American-born violin virtuosa and two-time Grammy winner Hilary Hahn, whose spirited and beautifully clear performance
is heard on Download 41. She made this recording at the age of twenty-two.
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When he arrived at the finale of his Violin Concerto, Brahms the conserva- tive turned to a form traditionally used in the last movement of a concerto: the rondo. Recall that a rondo centers on a single theme that serves as a musical refrain (see Chapter 3, “Rondo Form”). Here the refrain has the flavor of a gypsy tune, like the Hungarian dances Brahms often heard in Viennese cafés as he sipped beer, smoked a cigar, and chatted with friends. What animates this re- frain is its lively rhythm (Example 14.2).
Example 14.2 > brahms violin concerto rhythm CUCCCCUCCCC
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Above this foot-tapping motive, the violin sometimes soars with difficult passage work (scales, arpeggios, and double stops). The makers of the Academy Award–winning There Will Be Blood (2007) featured this movement by Brahms in the soundtrack of the film, perhaps to repre- sent the tug of war (concerto) between the greedy oil man (played by Daniel Day-Lewis) and the landowners. In- deed, the nineteenth-century solo concerto was not only a “concerted” effort by all participants, but also a contest be- tween soloist and orchestra. One musician of the day rec- ognized the tension when he said that Brahms had written a concerto not “for the violin but against it”, to which an- other replied, “Brahms’s concerto is not against the violin, but for the violin and against the orchestra—and the vio- lin wins.” Needless to say, the sight of the final victorious bows of a soloist appealed to listeners in the Romantic age, who had a penchant for hero worship. In the case of our recording (see Listening Cue), however, our hero is a her- oine, virtuoso violinist Hilary Hahn (Figure 14.6). Times have changed.
220 chapter fourteen late romantic orchestral music
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