Piano Quartet No. 3 (Brahms) - Third Movement

Third Movement

The Andante is in a modified ternary form: ABCA' with a coda. This is the only movement of the quartet that is not C minor, and it is in the key of E major, a remote key in the context of C minor. This can be explained by its origin as the slow movement to a piano quartet in ], which Brahms revised and published as Op. 60 in C minor. The key of E major is easily explained in the tonal context of C♯ minor, but the key choice of this movement was not revised as was the first movement; it should also be noted that the slow movement to Brahms’s Symphony No. 1 in C minor is also in E major. The Andante begins with a luscious melody played by the violoncello in its upper register (Theme A) with only the piano as accompaniment. The opening thematic material of this melody is a sequence of descending thirds, a gesture frequently used by Brahms (such as in his Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 119, No. 1, and the opening to Symphony No. 4 to name a few). The violin eventually joins in with a new melody over the cello. The viola enters later with a tutti descending stepwise idea. The A section, which is itself in a sort of AAB form, ends in the conventional dominant key of B major.

The B section (in ABAB form) begins with a syncopated ascending stepwise melodic line in the violin to be played molto dolce (Theme B). The piano begins to gain prominence with a distorted version of the opening cello line, played symmetrically across the piano (Theme C). Another theme developed in the B section is a falling line with dotted rhythms (Theme D).

The third section begins in B major but is highly chromatic. The piano plays a version of Theme B in broken octaves under consistent eighth-notes played by the violin and viola. This figure ends with a version of Theme C in broken octaves in the piano. This alternates with the string section, which develops Theme C. The piano rejoins and develops Themes C and D with the strings in E minor, but soon the violin plays Theme D over the other strings. At this point, the strings alternate with the piano, which plays Theme D in an unstable harmonic palette in broken octaves, while the strings play a combination of Themes C and D. This passage of alternating instruments moves from E minor to C minor to ] back to E major in the reprise of the A section.

The only significant differences between the first and second A sections are that in the second, the piano moves in triplets, there is a full string texture almost entirely throughout (often using pizzicato), and the piano begins the theme (although it is soon replaced by the cello). The coda is introduced by a new chord progression in the first tutti idea and by a solo cello line. Theme B is presented first by the viola and then by the violin, and the movement ends with the first measure of Theme A, stated first by the cello and then by the piano, concluding with a pianissimo affirmation of the tonic.