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Julia Plato

Honors Form and Analysis

Dr. Johnson

12/03/2018

How the Cello Section Outlines the Form in the

First Movement of Brahms’s Second Symphony

In the first movement of Brahms’s second symphony the cello section has many

beautiful, memorable melodies that are often given to other melodic instruments. In addition to

having beautiful melodies, the cello section has many moments that delineates the different parts

of the sonata form of this movement. Brahms uses the cello section in many distinct ways such

as introducing important motivic and thematic material, transitioning into new sections, and

providing stability at the beginning and end of the piece. This paper will outline the different

ways that Brahms uses the cello section in the first movement of his second symphony to define

the form.

One of the important aspects of the cello section in Brahms’s Symphony No. 2 is that it

often introduces important motivic and thematic material throughout the piece which marks the

beginning or end of sections within the form. For example, the cello section is the first section to

introduce the first secondary theme at m. 82 which is based on Brahms’s famous piece,

“Wiegenlied”, known as Brahms’s Lullaby. Many different instrument sections could have

introduced this melody, but the rich tone of the cello was chosen to be the first to play this

flowing theme, creating a full texture in the orchestra. This theme begins in the key of F# minor

and is passed from the cellos to the woodwinds at m. 102. When the cello section shifts from

chordal accompaniment material to melodic material at m. 82, the second transition has ended
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and the secondary theme is beginning. The cellos are the first to introduce this theme which will

mark the start of other parts of the form in the future.

The arrival of this melody in the dominant at m. 156 in the viola and second violin

sections indicates the beginning of the third closing. In this version, the viola and second violins

only play the first eight measures of the melody before passing it to the flutes at m. 164. The

flutes also only play the first eight measures of this melody before the music moves into the

modulation to the development. When this melody arrives again in the recap at m. 350 in the

tonic key, the cello and viola sections mark the start of the secondary theme. The entire melody

is played just as the first introduction of the secondary theme in the exposition, but instead is

finished by the viola section. It is interesting to note that the only time that this beautiful melody

is played in its entirety is when it is played by the cello section. This emphasizes the importance

that Brahms placed on the cello section throughout the symphony.

In addition to this beautiful

theme, the cello section introduces the

motive found in the first four notes of

the entire piece as shown in Figure 1. This Figure 1: Opening motive in cello and bass sections
mm. 1-8

four-note motive starts in tonic, moves to the

lower neighbor, back to tonic and then down to the dominant, outlining the key of the piece. The

cellos and basses play this single line motive in octaves, beginning the piece with a great depth

and richness of sound to support the

horn’s melody. Brahms’s choice to start

the accompaniment a measure before

Figure 2: Countermelody in cello section to first violins mm.
477-482
the melody emphasizes the importance of
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this motive which becomes memorable for the rest of the piece. This motive comes back in the

coda at m. 477 as shown in Figure 2, this time serving as a countermelody to the first violin

melody. However, it still starts a measure before the melody, introducing the start of a new

section within the coda. In the area prior to this first violin melody, the horns had the melody and

were accompanied by the strings. These two areas are separated by the four-note motive which is

again introduced by the cello section. This motif within the countermelody is present through

sixteen measures of the twenty measure violin melody. Compared to the beginning of the piece,

this usage of the motif happens more times and for a longer duration.

Another place where the cellos introduce motivic material is in the second transition of

the exposition, at m. 59, the cellos along

with the bassoons and basses are the first

section to introduce the staccato eighth note

motive. This introduction of new material

comes along with a change in articulation from Figure 4: Change in articulation from transition 1 to
transition 2 mm. 54-62.

slurred eighth-notes to staccato eighth-notes which the cellos, basses, and bassoons are

responsible for. By changing articulations these low register instruments mark the beginning of

the second transition which is shown in Figure 3. Brahms’s choice to introduce this change in

articulation with the bass instruments creates a round, full sound in the orchestra. This contrasts

the soaring treble voice melody of the first transition. The staccato eighth-notes also create

energy which is passed to the upper strings and back to the low voices before moving up to the

oboe and horn, propelling the music forward. This proves to be an important motif throughout

the development at m. 204 as well, beginning in the viola section. However, in the development

version, only the strings and bassoons have the motive while the oboes and horns do not. This
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staccato motive again creates energy that develops the primary theme as well as the second

transition. The final place where this motive comes back is in the recapitulation in m. 350 in the

cello and viola sections in the tonic key. This version of the theme, however, is finished by only

the violas. Each time that the second transition theme comes back, the change in articulation

indicates the new section of the music.

The final motive that the cellos introduce is in the second closing material at m.136. The

bassoons, cellos, and basses all introduce the ascending slurred, quarter note motive that is

imitated by the violins and then the flutes and clarinets. This single line melody in octaves is in a

low register for the cellos, basses, and bassoons which provides depth for which the soaring

violin line can float across. Prior to this, the cellos, basses, and bassoons had been acting as the

accompaniment to the melody in the upper strings but here the texture inverts and the lower

sections deliver the melodic material. The textural inversion signals the beginning of a new

section This occurs again in m. 404 which is introduced again by the cellos, basses, and

bassoons. Both times that this motive occurs, a textural inversion marks the beginning of the new

part of the form, the section is the same length and is passed through the instruments in the same

way. All of these moments in which the cello section is responsible for introducing an important

motive to the orchestra delineate where the different parts of the form begin and end.

The cello section is also used to mark the transition between themes or from theme to

transition throughout this movement. One place where this happens is at m. 44 where the

primary theme ends and the first transition begins. This is done through a change of texture that

is thoroughly outlined in the cello section. Before m. 44, the texture was melody with block

chord accompaniment which the cellos provided along with the horns. However, at m. 44, the

cello and viola sections' have an eighth-note accompaniment made up of alternating inversions of
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chords. This creates a thicker texture and marks the beginning of the first transition. Brahms’s

choice to give this first important texture change to the cello section shows that they are an

integral section within the form of this symphony.

Another point in which the cello section plays an important role is the start of the

recapitulation which occurs in m. 302. In the four measures preceding this point, the cellos and

the basses are the only strings playing while the upper winds play a scalar passage into the

recapitulation. These low register instruments create a warm body of sound for the smooth

transition to occur. The cellos and basses are playing an E which is the dominant of A major.

This chord moves to a D major chord in second inversion so the A is in the bass and cello

sections, creating a sol-do motion from the E to the A. The movement also begins on D major

chord in second inversion so this motion from the E to the A is important in launching the

recapitulation. Brahms’s orchestration at this point, emphasizes the cellos and basses by making

them the only string sections that hold through from the instability of the development into the

stability of the recapitulation.

The cellos also play an

important transitional role at m. 447

by maintaining the motion from the

Figure 4: The transition from the recapitulation into the coda
end of the recapitulation into the coda as mm. 447-452

shown in Figure 4. During the six measures before the coda, the oboe and the bassoon start a

series of descending quarter notes that are passed to the clarinet and cello two measures later. In

octaves, the cello and viola sections continue these quarter notes until the first note of the coda.

This line continues the small amount of motion from the end of the recapitulation into the coda

so the energy can begin rebuilding from the bottom up in the coda. This thin orchestration and
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texture in these final measures before the coda foreshadows the texture and long decrescendo of

energy from m. 447 to the end of the piece.

The cello section also plays an important role in creating stability throughout the piece at

the beginning, phrases throughout the primary theme, and in the closing of the piece. The cello

section along with the bass section begins the piece by themselves with three quarter-notes,

pitched do, ti, do, to establish the tonic. Throughout the beginning primary theme, the cello and

bass sections have very stable parts which alternate between simple measures of whole notes and

a measure of quarter-notes. These measures of quarter-notes occur at the cadence points of the

four measure phrases that make up the beginning of the primary theme. When the theme stops

cadencing regularly and starts to unwind at m. 14, the cellos and basses hold out whole notes to

support the fragmented theme. At m. 26, they join in the descending quarter-notes of the strings

until the horn returns with a simplified version of the primary theme at m. 33. At this time, the

cello section returns to their stable whole notes that ultimately lead into the first transition.

Although these simple rhythms may seem insignificant, they are extremely important as it adds a

steady shape to the somewhat wandering primary theme. As the theme is compressed and

fragmented, the cellos continue on with their simple parts that help establish the tonic and

stabilize the theme.

Another point at which the cello section is responsible for the stability of the piece is at

the end. The rich sound of the low string sections ground the unstable, syncopated rhythms that

come in towards the end of the movement. From the coda at m. 447 until the end, the cellos and

basses are the only sections that play the entire time, acting as the constant element for the

closing material. In the first half of the coda, mm. 447 through 496, these sections simply

accompany the upper strings and wind sections in a way similar to the primary theme, with
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measures of whole-notes alternated with a measure of quarter-notes. This single line melody in

octaves that introduced the beginning becomes a steadying source throughout the coda and is

voiced in the same instruments as the beginning.

After m. 496, however, the upper

strings and wind sections play fragments of the

first transition in syncopated rhythms while the

cello and bass sections control these unstable

rhythms by playing steady down beats as

shown in figure 5. These low string sections

become the steady beat for the rest of the first Figure 5: Cellos keep steady beat in coda mm. 497-505

movement keeping the syncopated rhythms and eighth notes. All of these sections are playing

motivic fragments of the first transition that are stabilized by the cellos’ persistence. The

prominent role of the cello section at both the beginning and the end of the movement to provide

stability is significant because, by definition, the beginning and end of the piece are often the

most stable while the middle is free to explore and embrace the instability. Brahms makes a point

to give the stable rhythms and harmonies to the cello and bass sections at both the beginning and

end while the upper strings and winds have more unsettled parts.

Throughout the first movement of Brahms’s second symphony, the cello section is used

in many different ways to delineate the form. Whether the cellos were used to introduce motivic

or thematic material, to transition between sections, or provide stability at different points

throughout the piece, Brahms used this section to show the beginning and ending of areas within

the sonata form. The cello section not only is chosen to delineate the different parts of the form,
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but also has the opportunity to cello section to introduce many elegant and melancholy melodies

throughout the first movement of his second symphony.