Pieces › Johannes Brahms

Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90

I. Allegro con brio

Johannes Brahms · 1883 · F major · 226 bars · 389 chords analysed

Built on the motto F–A♭–F (“frei aber froh”, free but happy). All four movements end quietly.

Brahms waited until he was 43 to publish a symphony — he felt Beethoven's shadow too keenly. The four he then wrote between 1876 and 1885 are warm, dense and tightly argued; every theme seems to grow out of another. A symphony is a large work for orchestra, usually in four movements: a dramatic first movement in sonata form, a slow movement, a dance (minuet or scherzo) and a fast finale. With strings, woodwind, brass and timpani all taking part, the harmony is spread across the whole orchestra — the numerals under the score read it all at once.

Keys visited: F major, D♭ major, A major, D minor, A minor, C minor, C♯ minor, G major, B♭ minor, E♭ minor, F minor, A♯ minor, D major, G minor.