Johannes Brahms - Vier Gesänge, Op. 17 for Female Choir, Horns and Harp (1860)

Johannes Brahms (7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer and pianist of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria. His reputation and status as a composer are such that he is sometimes grouped with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven as one of the "Three Bs" of music, a comment originally made by the nineteenth-century conductor Hans von Bülow.

4 Songs, Op. 17 (1860) for female choir, 2 horns and harp.

1. Es tönt ein voller Harfenklang Poco Adagio, con molto espressione (C major) - Friedrich Ruperti (1805–1867)

2. Lied von Shakespeare Andante (E-flat major) (4:00)
August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767–1845), after William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

3. Der Gärtner Allegretto (E-flat major) (5:35)
Joseph von Eichendorff (1788–1857)

4. Gesang aus Fingal Andante (C minor) (8:30)
Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803), after James Macpherson (1736–1796) as Ossian

Dan Everson & Steve Multer, horns
Erik C. Nielsen, harp
Kansas City Chorale conducted by Charles Bruffy

These four choral songs have the paradoxical distinction of both beginning the excellent line of secular part songs by Brahms and being completely unique within that output. Written for three-part women’s chorus throughout (except for a brief four-part a cappella passage in the middle section of No. 4), the choral style does anticipate somewhat that of the later a cappella part songs for mixed chorus (Opp. 42, 62, 93a, and 104). Op. 17, however, is set apart not only by being accompanied, but by the nature of that accompaniment: the exceedingly romantic combination of two horns and harp. The latter was an instrument to which Brahms would rarely again turn (only in the German Requiem, Op. 45 and in the Nänie, Op. 82, and in none of the symphonies). He remarked that he was not particularly fond of the instrument when it had to go and “make an effect.” In contrast, he always wrote effectively for horns, despite refusing to compose for the new valve instrument. The highly diverse texts lend themselves well to this combination. The harp’s characteristic arpeggios are prominent in Nos. 1 and 3. Both of these songs use the horns sparingly. No 1 restricts itself to one horn in a very specific role. Nos. 2 and 4 exploit the characteristic natural horn harmonies, known as “horn fifths,” to great effect. In these two songs, the harp is mostly restricted to block chords. The choral writing is relatively simple. Multi-voice counterpoint is kept at a minimum, the three parts singing mostly in block harmonies.