Banking on Brahms's tempos: a literalist look at the Italian terminology in his

Variations on a theme by Haydn

Author(s): Jonathan Andrew Govias
Source: Early Music , February 2012, Vol. 40, No. 1 (February 2012), pp. 111-118
Published by: Oxford University Press

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41502358

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 ❖ PERFORMING MATTERS ♦♦♦

Jonathan Andrew Govias

Banking on Brahms's tempos: a literalist look at

the Italian terminology in his Variations on a
theme by Haydn

well thought-out and realized on the part of the

It totoseems
be said
be on
saidthedifficult
issue ofontempo
the toinissue
the music
believeofof tempo that any in more the music remains of composer.
Brahms, particularly with regards to the Variations Evidence of the importance Brahms attached
on a theme by Haydn (hereafter Haydn Variations). to tempo is manifest in multiple quotes and anec-
This work has already been the subject of numerous dotes, but no more relevantly and concretely ex-
comprehensive studies, two of which focus en- emplified than within the manuscript sketches
tirely on tempo: theorist Allen Forte's 1957 article of Variation VIII.4 Donald McCorkle describes
how Brahms 'moderated the tempo to Poco presto
delved into Schenkerian layers to deliver the 'exact
tempi' promised by its title;1 and David Epstein's(from Presto sempre mezza voce el legato ), but sub-
sequently also struck out Poco and pencilled in non
1979 analysis was no less prescriptive in its findings
based on an examination of motivic and cellular troppo to temper the remaining Presto (the sempre
relationships within the composition.2 These two т. v. e legato was incorporated within the score)'.5
The alterations did not end there: a copyist arbi-
documents are provocative pieces of research, both
proposing unifying theories of tempo for the worktrarily determined that Poco presto might be more
and yet, in the best traditions of both interpretation appropriate, a change that Brahms implicitly
and scholarship, at times disagreeing considerablyapproved before reverting once more to the final
in their findings. Forte in particular acknowledgesPresto non troppo that appears in both published
that his conclusions do not reconcile with the pub-versions.
lished Italian tempo terms, and suggests that the It was an inordinate amount of trouble for the
fact that the indications were changed between thesake of a single indication in a single bar. Beyond
two-piano and orchestral versions, published apalaeographic implications relating to Brahms's
year apart, renders them 'relatively insignificant'.3compositional process, the revisions themselves
I would argue that far from diminishing their im-demonstrate that the words he used to describe
portance, the changes in tempo indications should tempos were far from meaningless. Rather, for
direct more attention to the final versions, not Brahms they were an essential element in commu-
less; that the Italian terms warrant critical col- nicating his vision of the piece, and worthy of much
lective reassessment; and that in conjunction with trouble and reflection to get exactly right. Although
the music they qualify, they ultimately reveal a the instance cited above reflects changes made in
brilliantly simple tempo plan, easy and intuitive to Brahms's working copies, in the year between pub-
execute from a performer's perspective, but extremely lication of the two versions of the Haydn Variations ,

©The
Early Music, Vol. xl, No. 1 Author 2012. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. 111
doi:10.1093/em/carl20, available online at www.em.oxrordjournals.org
Advance Access published on February 9, 2012

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the first for two pianos (op.56b, 1873), the other for
II. The tempo indication for this v
full orchestra (op.56a, 1874), the tempos of five of
the ten sections were altered. For Brahms, post- vivace - not 'vivace' in the conventional sense of
publication, this was change on a grand scale, 'lively', but with the modifier 'più', so once again,
rivalled in magnitude perhaps only by the retraction
of metronome markings in the German Requiem.
The Haydn Variations are organized into ten
distinct segments: a statement of the theme, titled
Chorale St Antonu followed by eight variations sepa-
rated by fermatas,6 and a finale. The Italian termin-
ology Brahms employed is outlined in Table 1, with
the indications from the earlier two-piano version
reproduced for the sake of comparison.7
Assuming the hypothesis that the alterations are
meaningful and establish a unified tempo plan,
the revised markings must then be considered not
just logically but collectively, and quite literally,
in order for the broader scheme to emerge. A col-
lective approach requires no further justification
than Brahms's own syntax. With or without any ref-
erence to the music they qualify, the words Brahms
chose frequently imply direct connections between
the movements when construed literally.8 Take ation III to Variation IV is extremely significant,
for example the tempo indication for Variation I,
Poco più animato , or in the most prosaic of transla-
tions, 'a little more animated'. The words 'poco più'
indicate a relation: the tempo has to be a little faster,
a little more active than the previous tempo, which
in this case has to be that of the Chorale for lack of
alternatives. A similar conclusion may be drawn
Table 1 Comparison of Italian terms in the two versions
of Brahms's Haydn Variations
Orchestral version , Two-piano version}
op.s6a op. 56b
Andante Chorale Andante
Poco più animato Var. I Andante con moto
Più vivace Var. II Vivace
Con moto Var. III Con moto
Andante con moto Var. IV Andante
Vivace Var. V Poco presto
Vivace Var. VI Vivace
Grazioso Var. VII Grazioso
Presto non troppo Var. VIII Poco presto
Andante Finale Andante
after the same literalist lens is applie
more lively in comparison to the previous move-
ment, which in turn was described as being more
animated than the first. The Italian term for Vari-
ation III is more definitive. The instruction is not 'a
little more lively' or ťmore animated' but Con moto ,
'with motion', the phrase conveying a stronger sense
of direction, particularly in the absence of any of the
previous modifiers.9
When the Italian terms for the theme and first three
variations are viewed both literally and in associ-
ation, clear instructions emerge for a linear tempo
progression bookended by the as-yet-undetermined
starting tempo of the Chorale and the relative Con
moto of Variation III. It could be construed that,
with the designation of Variation IV as Andante
con moto , the progression is broken, but the words
Brahms chose are once again laden with meaning.
The repetition of the words 'con moto' from Vari-
directly connecting the latter movement's tempo
to that of the former. The Andante , in this broader
context, has a very specific function: to direct
attention to the fact that the pulse, previously held
within the crotchet in Variation III, is now con-
tained within the quaver for Variation IV, not the
dotted crotchet as could possibly be construed.10
In this way the linear tempo progression remains
intact. The pulse of Variation IV can be incremen-
tally faster than that of the previous movement, but
the fundamental metrical unit has changed. Any
remaining potential for considering a pulse within
the dotted crotchet for Variation IV is nullified by
the presentation of the following variation in 6/8.
Variation V is another tempo milestone, bearing
the plain indication Vivace while changing the pulse
from the quaver to the dotted crotchet. The lack of
any qualifier, similar to Variation III, invites a con-
ventional interpretation of the term; the nature of
the music sets an upper practical limit to the tempo;
and the preceding tempo progression now furnishes
a context into which to place the pulse effectively.
Variation VI is in many ways the proof of the
theoretical pudding, precisely because it bears
the exact same tempo indication as Variation V. The

112 EARLY MUSIC FEBRUARY 2012

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identical markings were interpreted by both Ep-
stein and Forte as justifying a slower tempo in Vari-
ation VI in order to give its semiquaver precisely the
same temporal value as the quaver in the preceding
movement. However, consider what happens if the
pulse is maintained exactly, i.e. if the value of the
dotted crotchet in Variation V becomes the value of
the crotchet in Variation VI. A compression effect
ensues, in which four notes are squeezed into the
same temporal space that preciously accommodated
three, with the result that the tempo feels faster
without any need to advance the actual pulse in the
slightest. In short, the tempo increase in this vari-
ation is fully integrated on the metrical and nota-
tional level, a product of the composer's technique
and not the conductor's.
At first glance, Variation VII, Grazioso , is some-
thing of an oddity. This variation is the sole instance
in which the Italian word is not a direct tempo indi-
cation, but a reference more to style and character
rather than to pulse. The simplest and most lit-
eral conclusion to be drawn then is that there is no
change in tempo, only in mood. Whether the pulse
lies within the quaver or the dotted crotchet is then
answered similarly: a dotted crotchet at the same
tempo as the preceding movement simply could not
be described as 'graceful' in anyway. However, there
is another way of imagining an exact and organic
relation between the two variations. In the earlier of
his two studies, Epstein postulates that if Variation
VI has the feel of the pulse within the minim, as
opposed to the crotchet, then the value of the minim
transfers very elegantly to the value for the dotted
crotchet.11 To the ear this can be very satisfying with
certain tempo ranges, but it severs what is now a
well-established line of steady, incremental tempo
increases, requiring reinterpretation of the rela-
tionship not just between Variation VI and VII, but
between Variation V and VI and similarly all tran-
sitions before. More importantly, it also ignores the
musical characteristics of Variation VI, in which the
accents on both the first and the second beat of each
bar serve to reinforce the idea of the pulse in crotch-
ets. Some corroboration of the importance of these
accents can be inferred from the special mention
they received in Walter Blume's 1937 monograph
Brahms in the Meiningen tradition .12 Although it is
difficult to determine how much of Blume's text is
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factual reporting of Fritz Steinbach's practice versus
personal editorial,13 he does also note that the feel
of the music in Variation VII can best be expressed
if the conductor switches from a two-pattern to a
six-pattern for the hemiola in bars 307-9, 14 a change
that is only physically reasonable within a narrow
tempo range.
The tortured genesis of the tempo indication
for Variation VIII has previously been discussed,
but the final version of Presto non troppo is notable
for marking the return of Brahmsian qualifiers.
In considering the word 'presto', as with any other
tempo, thought must be given to what note values
the term applies to. Realistically, there is almost no
scope here for a tempo in which a dotted minim as
a unit falls within the realm of 'presto', so the word
has to apply by default to the crotchet. Blume's text
sheds some additional light on this matter. His sug-
gestion how best to conduct the variation entails
'giving a slight indication of the third quarter-note
of the measure',15 once again implying a middle
ground between the feel of one to a bar and three to
a bar. If the linear tempo progression is maintained
for this movement, the result in this variation is a
crotchet pulse that is truly 'presto non troppo' and
could be conducted in one or a slightly articulated
three. Ensuring that Variation VII is felt principally
in six beats to a bar while Variation VIII is felt on the
line between one and three beats to a bar enhances
the contrast between them. That last consideration
must surely have been the justification as well for
the wholesale metrical reworking Brahms effected in
this movement between sketch and printed edition,
when he changed the time signature to 3/4 from the
original 3/8, as shown in illus.i.
Up to this point the concept of a starting tempo
for a musical quantum gradually and incremen-
tally increased over eight variations to a finale has
been expressed conceptually rather than empiric-
ally, but at some point practicality must intrude,
and the theory related to the dial of a metronome.
At the beginning, I postulated that the tempo of the
first variation is 'a little more animated' than that
of the Chorale theme. How much might that con-
stitute? There is a principle in psychophysics called
the Weber-Fechner Law that defines how much
change in any entity or property is required in order
for it to be noticeable. The mathematical details
EARLY MUSIC FEBRUARY 2012 ИЗ
 i Autograph of Brahms's Haydn Variations , Var. VIII (Vienna, Archiv der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde)

behind it are not relevant here, but, simply, the con-
cept suggests that for any change in state (in this
case, tempo) to be perceived, the amount of change
required will be a proportion of the starting quan-
tity. That particular number has to be determined
experientially for each context, as there is no fixed
value. Fortunately, speculation as to the proportion
in matters of tempo is not required: recent research
undertaken on the topic suggests that the magic
number is between 8 and ю per cent.16 For example,
with a starting tempo of 50 beats per minute,
an acceleration will only be heard once it reaches
around 55 beats per minute. With a starting tempo
of 100, the increase has to reach roughly an add-
itional 10 beats per minute for it to be perceptible.
Assigning a bald, concrete percentage to
tempo changes between variations is inele
and inartistic, but the exercise is very illumina
Table 2 presents a recapitulation of the fin
variation tempo indicators along with the prop
progression.
As indicated above for the finale, it seems uni-
versally accepted that the tempo for the concluding
movement is twice that of the Chorale. In other
words, the value of the crotchet in the opening
becomes the value of the minim at the end, an idea
that is sensible, orthodox and pleasantly cyclical.
But when a starting metronome value is assigned
and increments are rounded to the next higher
traditional metronome gradation, the results are

114 EARLY MUSIC FEBRUARY 2012

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revelatory, and a grand tempo design between first
and last sections emerges that connects them even
more strongly (Table 3).
A significant hazard of this tempo plan is the
likelihood of it reducing the degree of aural dif-
ferentiation between variations. Brahms negates
this possibility from the outset by placing fermatas
between all save the Chorale theme and Variation
I, but also enhances the differences by modifying
the degree of rhythmic activity or by changing
metre. An important element of the contrast be-
tween the Chorale and Variation I is the persistent
Table 2 General tempo progression, Brahms's Haydn
Variations
Orchestral
version, op.56a Unit Tempo in MM
Andante Chorale J Starting value
Poco più animato Var. I J Starting + 10%
Più vivace Var. II J Var. I + 10%
Con moto Var. III J Var. II + 10%
Andante con moto Var. IV ^ Var. III + 10%
Vivace Var. V J. Var. IV + 10%
Vivace Var. VI J Same as Var. V
Grazioso Var. VII Same as Var.
accommodated the full range of characters within
V&VI
the
Presto non troppo Var. VIII J Var. VII +variations,
10% but the choice was certainly a per-
sonal and not prescriptive one. The overall tempo
Andante Finale J 2 x starting value
use of triplet motion in the latter;17 Variation II
introduces dotted rhythms on a large scale, frequently
juxtaposed with triplets for a sense of even denser
motion; and Variation III has extensive run-
ning semiquavers. This gradual concentration of
rhythmic activity effectively augments the under-
lying increases in tempo. At the arrival of Vari-
ation IV, the switch to a pulse of quavers in a time
signature of 3/8 severs any sense of continuity
built up by the preceding successive movements in
2/4, but still allows the tempo progression to con-
tinue unabated. The metre change in Variation VI
does more than distinguish it from its identically
qualified predecessor: the mathematics of the pre-
viously mentioned 'compression effect' provide
further critical corroboration of the scheme as a
whole. The grouping of three quavers in Variation
V, each one occupying one-third of the pulse, has
to be condensed to allow four semiquavers in the
same temporal space for Variation VI. As a result,
the duration of each note decreases between varia-
tions from roughly 33 per cent to 25 per cent of each
pulse, a difference of slightly over 8 per cent, and
one that is just noticeable according to the previ-
ously mentioned rubric.
As for the arbitrariness of the starting tempo
value in Table 3, I selected it because I felt it best
plan as outlined above holds true mathematically

Table 3 Tempo progression with metronome marks, Brahms's Haydn Variations

Orchestral version , op.56a Unit Tempo MM

Andante Theme J Starting value 66

Poco più animato Var. I J Starting + 10% 72
Più vivace Var. II J Var. I + 10% 80
Con moto Var. III J Var. II + 10% 88
Andante con moto Var. IV Var. III + 10% 96

Vivace Var. V J. Var. IV + 10% 108

Vivace Var. VI J Same as Var. V (but sounds faster) 108
Grazioso Var. VII ^ Same as Var. V & VI 108
Presto non troppo Var. VIII J Var. VII + 10% 120
Andante Finale J/J Var. VIII + 10% = 2 x starting value 132 = 2 x 66

EARLY MUSIC FEBRUARY 2012 II5

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for any starting tempo chosen, with the whole arc
equivalent to a compound interest calculation of
seven periods at a rate of roughly ю per cent per
period. This calculation does not produce an exact
doubling,18 but if each increment is related to the
next immediate higher conventional metronome
marking, the finale's value is always twice that of the
Chorale.
At this point a brief re-evaluation of the original
Italian terms of the two-piano version, as seen in
Table i, may be constructive. In retrospect, it is rela-
tively simple to see both how the first set of terms
could theoretically apply to the proposed tempo
plan and also how they might have been problem-
atic or ambiguous, warranting amendment. The
original Andante con moto of Variation II commu-
nicates the same idea as the Poco più animato in
the orchestral version, but leaves Brahms with no
options for denoting the progression from Vari-
ation III to Variation IV. Similarly, his original use
of Vivace for Variation II, while again understand-
able in hindsight, creates an undesired connection
with Variation VI, just as the reuse of Andante for
Variation IV improperly links that section to the
Chorale.
Realistically, attempting to make each increase
in tempo precisely the same in order to achieve
an exact doubling over the seven sections is an
absurdly inorganic and unworkable proposition.
Rather, the point of the above empirical exercise
is to demonstrate the linearity of the progression
without being unduly prescriptive. A truly unified
tempo plan, one that encompasses the entire work,
requires broad brush strokes, and the simplicity and
elegance of that stroke is made doubly clear when
presented graphically in a comparison with the
tempos prescribed by Epstein and Forte (illus.2).
The beauty of the linear tempo plan is that it
allows a remarkable amount of nuance and flexibility
in tempos within and between variations, while still
containing the whole within a tempo range delim-
ited only by practicality. The scheme is entirely
consistent with Brahms's instructions,19 wonder-
fully simple, straightforward, and easy for musi-
cians and conductors to execute - and it is precisely
what a composer very concerned with tempo would

2 Comparison of proposed tempos in Brahms's Haydn Variations

lió EARLY MUSIC FEBRUARY 2012

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hope and strive for. As a solution it is elegant and
artistic, and perhaps a precursor for further large-
scale tempo schematics Brahms would undertake
in later, more substantial works. It must be remem-
bered that the Haydn Variations served a specific
compositional function for Brahms in the years
before the première of Symphony пол. The use of a
theme then attributed to Haydn and the particular
choice of form in combination expressly permitted
Brahms to engage with orchestral writing in a highly
Classical vein - that is to say, outside the scope and
resulting expectations of the symphony proper.
He could deliberately and safely invoke an older
musical idiom by paying direct homage to an
acknowledged Classical master, work appropri-
ately within established (if not archaic) formal tech-
niques, conventions and musical expectations, and
simultaneously experiment with orchestral texture,
sonority and thematic development . In that light, it
requires no great stretch of the imagination to con-
sider the work a grand, radical and brilliant experi-
ment in tempo too.

Appointed music director of a professional orchestra at the age of 22, Jonathan Andrew Govias has since
earned a doctorate in orchestral conducting and performed with orchestras worldwidef including his
debut in June 2009 with Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra. A member of the inaugural class of
Abreu Fellows at New England Conservatory , he has also established an international reputation for his
work on the theory and practice of music as an agent of social change , based on his work as a conductor ,
consultant and educator on four continents, jonathan.govias@gmail.com

1 A. Forte, 'Exact tempi in the
Brahms-Haydn Variations', Music
Review , xviii (1957), pp.138-49.
2 David Epstein devoted two studies
to the work, in fact. The first, in
Beyond Orpheus (Cambridge, MA,
1979)) pp.83-6, was ultimately
superseded by his analysis in Shaping
time (New York, 1995), pp.269-76.
Epstein commences the latter by
expressly acknowledging Forte's
influence and the similarities of the
conclusions they draw, while
highlighting the remaining differences.
Since Epstein's later study must
necessarily be considered his final
word on the composition (barring
future revisions), all references here to
Epstein's work allude to the 1995 study
unless specifically otherwise noted.
3 Forte, 'Exact tempi in the Brahms-
Haydn Variations', p.148.
4 G. Henschel, Personal recollections of
Johannes Brahms (Boston, 1907),
contains many of these.
5 D. McCorkle, 'Genesis and
creation', in Brahms: Variations on a
Theme of Haydn, ed. D. McCorkle
(New York, 1976), pp.27-59, at pp.55-6.
6 Dr Andrea Harrandt, of the
österreichische Nationalbibliothek,
confirmed in personal correspondence
of 6 September 2010 that Variation VI
also concludes with a fermata in the Symphony no.5, Mozart's Symphony
autograph score of the op.56b, an no.39 and Schubert's Symphony no.8
inconsistency unmentioned in the ('Unfinished').
commentary in Brahms: Variations on 11 Epstein, Beyond Orpheus , p.83.
a Theme of Haydny ed. McCorkle. Epstein's position in his later analysis
7 In McCorkle, 'Genesis and creation', is more complex: he envisions a
p.57, the author provides a chart relationship in which three
showing the evolution of the tempos semiquavers of Variation VI have the
from the first sketches through the same value as one quaver in Variation
autographs and printed editions of the VII. Epstein, Shaping time , p.274.
two different versions.
12 See J. Pasternack, 'Brahms in the
8 R. Norrington, 'Conducting Brahms', Meiningen tradition: his symphonies and
in The Cambridge Companion to Brahms , Haydn Variations according to the
ed. M. Musgrave (Cambridge, 1999), markings of Fritz Steinbach, edited by
pp.231-49 at pp.243-4, suggests that the Walter Blume: a complete translation with
qualifiers indicate a deliberate lack of background and commentary', Ph.D. diss.,
specificity on the part of Brahms, a degree University of Washington (2004), p.124.
of ambiguity which seems contrary, if not
13 Although it is known that Brahms
anathema, to Brahms's well-documented
generally approved of Steinbach's
interest and concern with tempos in
interpretations, the question of how
performance of his music.
much of Steinbach's specific practice
9 Variation III also bears some was explicitly sanctioned or endorsed
remarkable thematic, textural and by Brahms remains unresolved.
rhythmic similarities with the first part
14 Pasternack, Brahms in the
of the Scherzo of Symphony пол, so
Meiningen tradition , pp.124-5.
some parallels in terms of tempo might
well be drawn. 15 Pasternack, Brahms in the
Meiningen tradition , p.125.
10 The interpretation of the phrase
'Andante con moto' in connection 16 K. Thomas, 'Just noticeable difference
with quavers is consistent with its use and tempo change', Journal of Scientific
in a number of other symphonies Psychology (May 2007), pp.14-20.
assuredly known to Brahms, including 17 Brahms initially diminishes the
the second movements of Beethoven's contrast quite deliberately between the

EARLY MUSIC FEBRUARY 2012 11 7

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Il8 EARLY MUSIC FEBRUARY 2012

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