Schicksalslied - Musical Elements

Musical Elements

Schicksalslied, which John Lawrence Erb posits is “perhaps the most widely loved of all of Brahms’s compositions and the most perfect of his smaller choral works,” is sometimes referred to as the “Little Requiem,” as it shares many stylistic and compositional similarities with Brahms’s most ambitious choral composition. The Romantic characteristics of Schicksalslied, however, give this piece a closer tie with the "Alto Rhapsody" than the Requiem. Whichever piece it most closely relates to, it is clear that Schicksalsied was the work of a master composer working at the height of his skill. John Alexander Fuller Maitland stated that in Schicksalslied, Brahms “set the pattern of the short choral-ballad, to which, in Nänie, Op. 82, and the Gesang der Parzen, Op. 89, Brahms subsequently returned.” Likewise, Hadow praises the piece for “its technical beauties, its rounded symmetry of balance and charm of melody, and its marvelous cadences where chord melts into chord like colour into colour.”

The first movement, marked Adagio, is in common meter and begins in E-flat major. The piece opens with 28 measures of an orchestral prelude (which Brahms eventually re-orchestrated for the third movement). At measure 29, the altos enter with the initial statement of the choral melody, which is immediately reiterated by the chorus in unison.

The first example of the text painting in Schicksalslied occurs in measure 41, when harmonies first enter as the choir sings "Glӓnzende Gӧtterlüfte".

The orchestra returns to prominence at measure 52 with harp-like accompaniment as the chorus presents a new melody to the line, Wie die Finger der Künstlerin Heilige Saiten. At measure 64, the orchestra cadences in the dominant key of B-flat major before repeating the first thematic melodic line originally stated in the alto voice.

This time, however, the melody is taken initially by the horn with the entire chorus repeating the theme on, Schicksallos, wie der Schlafende Sӓugling.

While Brahms does return to the initial thematic material in the dominant tonality, the restatement is a mere 12 bars while the initial statement was 23. This section ends with a similar orchestral cadence in measure 81, this time in tonic.

The melodic theme returns one final time in this first movement in measure 84 in the choral line, Und die seligen Augen, which cadences in E-flat in measure 96. Two orchestral D diminished triads sound to conclude the first movement and prepare C minor as the new tonality.

The second movement, in 3⁄₄, is marked Allegro and opens in C minor with eight measures of quaver motion in the strings. The orchestral quaver continues for 20 measures as the chorus enters in unison with, Doch uns ist gegeben. The quaver intensifies and climaxes at a fortissimo in measure 132, as Brahms sets the lyric, Blindlings von einer stunde zur andern, to the chorus dividing into a B diminished seventh chord.

In an effort to elicit an effect of gasping for breath, Brahms inserts a hemiola over the lyric, Wasser von Klippe zu Klippe geworfen. By alternating quarter notes with quarter rests in the choral and orchestral parts in 3⁄₄, this section feels as though the meter has changed to 3 over 2, essentially converting two bars of 3⁄₄ (One, rest, three, rest, two, rest, one…) into one of 3 over 2 (One, rest, two, rest, three, rest, one…).

The ordinary rhythm returns in measure 154 with the choir completing the stanza and ultimately cadencing on a D major tried in measure 172.

After a 21 measure orchestral interlude, Brahms restates the last stanza of text with two separate fugal sections in measure 194 for 28 bars and measure 222 for 51 bars. Following the fugal sections, Brahms repeats the entire second movement (excluding the fugues) in D minor. The chorus replaces their final D major triad of the first statement with a D-sharp diminished chord in measure 322.

The cadential material then repeats landing on the tonic C minor in measure 332.

The second movement closes with a 54 measure conclusive orchestral section with a C pedal tone and the chorus intermittently repeating the last line of Hӧlderlin's poem. The addition of E naturals starting in measure 364 predicts the coming modulation to C major for the final movement.

The third movement, marked Adagio, is in C major and returns to common meter. This postlude is the same as the orchestral prelude, save for the changes in instrumentation and the transposition into C major.