String Quartet No. 3 (Brahms)

Brahms's " useless trifle" of a chamber work

The String Quartet No. 3 in B♭ major, Op. 67, was composed by Johannes Brahms in the summer of 1875 and published by the firm of Fritz Simrock.^[1] It received its premiere performance on October 30, 1876 in Berlin.^[2] It has four movements:

Vivace (B-flat major)
Andante (F major)
Agitato (Allegretto non troppo) — Trio — Coda (D minor)
Poco Allegretto con Variazioni (B-flat major)

Brahms composed the work in Ziegelhausen, near Heidelberg, and dedicated it to Professor Theodor Wilhelm Engelmann, an amateur cellist who had hosted Brahms on a visit to Utrecht. Brahms was at the time the artistic director of the Vienna Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde.^[1]^[2] The work is lighthearted and cheerful, "a useless trifle", as he put it, "to avoid facing the serious countenance of a symphony", referring to the work on his Symphony No. 1 which debuted a week later.^[1]

The irony to this quartet is that although the quartet is dedicated to Engelmann, who was a cellist, throughout the entire quartet, there is no cello melody; the violins would have a melody throughout the piece and in the third movement, the Agitato, the melody of the movement is mainly played by a viola instead of the cello. Engelmann was rather puzzled by how the quartet was thus configured, but appreciated its dedication to him all the same. In a letter about the quartet to Engelmann, Brahms said "This quartet rather resembles your wife—very dainty, but brilliant! ...It's no longer a question of a forceps delivery; but of simply standing by. There’s no cello solo in it, but such a tender viola solo that you may want to change your instrument for its sake!".^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Geiringer, Karl (1984). Brahms: His Life and Work. New York: Da Capo Press. pp. 119, 234–5. ISBN 0-306-80223-6.
^ ^a ^b "Klassika: Johannes Brahms (1833–1897): Streichquartett Nr. 3" (in German). Klassika, die deutschsprachigen Klassikseiten. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
^ "String Quartet in B flat major, Op 67 (Brahms) - from CDA67552 - Hyperion Records - MP3 and Lossless downloads". Hyperion-records.co.uk. Retrieved 2 October 2017.

External links

String Quartet No. 3 (Brahms): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
Performance of String Quartet No. 3 by the Borromeo String Quartet from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in MP3 format

Chamber music by Johannes Brahms

Duos

Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38
Cello Sonata No. 2 in F major, Op. 99
Clarinet Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 120, No. 1
Clarinet Sonata No. 2 in E-flat major, Op. 120, No. 2
Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major, Op. 78
Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 100
Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108

Trios

Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114
Horn Trio in E-flat major, Op. 40
Piano Trio No. 1 in B major, Op. 8
Piano Trio No. 2 in C major, Op. 87
Piano Trio No. 3 in C minor, Op. 101
Piano Trio in A major, Anh. 4/5 (doubtful)

Quartets

Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25
Piano Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 26
Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor, Op. 60
String Quartets, Op. 51 (No. 1 in C minor; No. 2 in A minor)
String Quartet No. 3 in B-flat major, Op. 67

Quintets
& Sextets

Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115
Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34
String Quintet No. 1 in F major, Op. 88
String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111
String Sextet No. 1 in B-flat major, Op. 18
String Sextet No. 2 in G major, Op. 36

List of compositions by Johannes Brahms

v t e Johannes Brahms
List of compositions
Orchestral works	Academic Festival Overture Serenades Symphony No. 1 in C minor Symphony No. 2 in D major Symphony No. 3 in F major Symphony No. 4 in E minor Tragic Overture Variations on a Theme by Haydn
Concertante	Double Concerto Piano Concerto No. 1 Piano Concerto No. 2 Violin Concerto
Vocal works with orchestra	A German Requiem Alto Rhapsody Gesang der Parzen Nänie Rinaldo Schicksalslied Triumphlied
Chamber music	Cello Sonata No. 1 Cello Sonata No. 2 Clarinet Quintet Clarinet Sonatas Clarinet Trio Horn Trio Piano Quartet No. 1 Piano Quartet No. 2 Piano Quartet No. 3 Piano Quintet Piano Trio No. 1 Piano Trio No. 2 Piano Trio No. 3 String Quartet No. 3 String Quintet No. 1 String Quintet No. 2 String Sextet No. 1 String Sextet No. 2 Two String Quartets, Op. 51 Violin Sonata No. 1 Violin Sonata No. 2 Violin Sonata No. 3
Piano works	Ballades, Op. 10 Fantasies, Op. 116 Four Pieces for Piano, Op. 119 Hungarian Dances Piano Sonata No. 1 Piano Sonata No. 2 Piano Sonata No. 3 Rhapsodies, Op. 79 Six Pieces for Piano, Op. 118 Sixteen Waltzes, Op. 39 Three Intermezzi for piano, Op. 117 Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel Variations on a Theme of Paganini
Other compositions	Eleven Chorale Preludes Fest- und Gedenksprüche Fünf Gesänge, Op. 104 Fünf Lieder, Op. 105 Geistliches Lied Liebeslieder Waltzes, Op. 52 Neue Liebeslieder Two Motets, Op. 74 Two Songs for Voice, Viola and Piano, Op. 91 Vier ernste Gesänge "Wiegenlied (Lullaby)", Op. 49, no. 4 Zigeunerlieder
Collaborations	F-A-E Sonata
Named for Brahms	1818 Brahms Brahms (crater) Brahms Inlet
Related articles	Brahms House (Baden-Baden) Brahms Museum (Hamburg) Brahms Museum, Mürzzuschlag Brahms guitar Brahms-Institut Brahms-Preis German Romanticism International Johannes Brahms Competition Musical cryptogram Three Bs Op. 120, No. 1 (Berio)
Category Audio