Tragic Overture (Brahms)
1880 concert overture for orchestra by Johannes Brahms
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The Tragic Overture (German: Tragische Ouvertüre), Op. 81, is a concert overture for orchestra written by Johannes Brahms during the summer of 1880. It premiered, under Hans Richter, on 26 December 1880 in Vienna.[1] Most performances last between twelve and fifteen minutes.
| Tragic Overture | |
|---|---|
| by Johannes Brahms | |
.jpg) Brahs in 1882 | |
| Native name | Tragische Ouvertüre |
| Key | D minor |
| Opus | Op. 81 |
| Composed | 1880 |
| Duration | ~ 10 minutes |
| Movements | Four continuous sections |
| Scoring | Symphony orchestra |
| Premiere | |
| Date | 26 December 1880 |
| Location | Vienna |
Brahms chose the title "tragic" to emphasize the turbulent, tormented character of the piece, in essence a free-standing symphonic movement, in contrast to the mirthful ebullience of a companion piece he wrote the same year, the Academic Festival Overture. Despite its name, the Tragic Overture does not follow any specific dramatic program. Brahms summed up the effective difference in character between the two overtures when he declared "one is laughing, the other crying."[2]
Structure
Analysis
Theorists have disagreed in analyzing the form of the piece: Jackson finds Webster's multifarious description[citation needed] rather obscurist and prefers to label the work's form as a "reversed sonata design" in which the second group is recapitulated before the first, with Beethoven's Coriolan Overture as a possible formal model.[3]
