Variations on a Theme by Haydn

About the composer:

Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) was a German speaking composer and pianist, and a major figure of the later-Romantic era. Born in Hamburg (then part of the German Confederation, but an independent city-state), Brahms showed early musical talent, studying piano and composition as a child.

He gained recognition after meeting Robert and Clara Schumann in 1853, with Robert praising him as music’s next great genius. Brahms’s works blend classical forms with Romantic expression, including symphonies, chamber music, piano works, and choral compositions. Some of his most well-known pieces include A German Requiem, Hungarian Dances, and his four symphonies, particularly the dramatic Symphony No. 1.

A perfectionist,Brahms was often self-critical and destroyed many of his early works, he was deeply influenced by Beethoven and avoided writing an opera, focusing instead on absolute music (that is, music without a defined or specific program). He settled in Vienna in the 1860s, where he became a revered but private figure. Brahms died on April 3, 1897, and was buried in Vienna’s Central Cemetery, leaving a legacy as one of the greatest composers of the 19th century.

Portrait of Brahms 1889

Artistic Director's Notes

I have a deep personal connection to the music of Brahms and especially to this piece. When I was young student at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music (Now part of Griffith University), I was enrolled in a subject that included what we call Score Reading. Score Reading involves listening to a recording and following along with an instrument in an ensemble, and often being asked by the instructor to sing the part of any instrument with the recording. I was also asked, because I was/am that sort of student, to play piano reductions of the score, or to play various instruments on the piano along with a recording, handling all the different key signatures and clefs etc. I loved this subject and as I was also studying Conducting at the same time, the two disciplines fed into each other. My first major assignment was the original orchestrated version of this piece, and I fell in love with it. Other than his famous lullaby, I am sure this was the first piece of Brahms I ever knew. I was also told by my Piano teacher at the time, that she was taught by one of his students - so there is a sort of pedagogical line to me from him!

The original version of this piece was written for 2 pianos in 1873, but Brahms quickly orchestrated it and the first performance was given by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra with Brahms conducting in late 1873. It is, by most accounts, the first piece for Orchestra that is entirely in Variation form. The tune that you hear at the start, the "Theme by Haydn" is played, and then Brahms composed various adaptions of the theme - changing the melody line slightly, or writing it in another key or time signature etc. The version that the orchestra is performing tonight is an adaptation of the original, by the American composer John Whitney. The original work has the theme, followed by 8 variations and a finale. Tonight's version has the theme stated, followed by 2 variations, the second one in 3 beats to the bar, rather than 4 and in the minor key, followed by the finale.

Brahms called this piece Variations on a Theme of Haydn with the subtitle Chorale St. Antoni as he came across the theme in a wind ensemble piece that was transcribed by a friend who was writing a biography of Haydn. Unfortunately, the publisher of the work added the name Haydn to try and sell more copies of the music, and modern scholarship has fundamentally shown that the piece is not actually by Haydn (This is something that we often come across in a lot of Classical music!). There is also no other record of a chorale, or hymn, for St Anthony with the same tune, so perhaps that was also an advertising gimick. St Anthony is the Patron Saint of Lost Things. Perhaps we were never meant to find the lost original author.