Symphony No. 4

At a glance

• What it isthe fourth and last movement of Symphony No. 4, in the form of a passacaglia, which keeps repeating the same theme as the basis for variations.
• Who, when, whycompleted in 1885 and first performed that October in Meiningen. The theme takes its cue from the bass line of a Bach cantata.
• What to listen forthe returning eight-bar theme, and the slow variation in the middle where the flute sings alone.

Listen for

• The themethe winds, trombones included, present the theme in eight chords. Remember the path the top notes take, climbing step by step.
• The flute variationin the middle the music slows, and the flute alone sings a long, lonely line. Then the trombones offer a quiet chorale in the major.
• The returnthe opening theme comes back fiercely, and the variations grow more and more intense until the movement ends with force in E minor.

When it was written

The passacaglia and the chaconne were forms much loved in the Baroque era, repeating the same bass or chord progression and piling variations on top. Brahms studied old music deeply and collected scores. He built this theme on the bass of the final chorus of Bach's Cantata No. 150.

Until then, the last movement of a symphony usually took a form such as sonata or rondo. Brahms brought in a form more than a century old to crown his last symphony. After this piece he wrote no more symphonies.