Brahms: Variations on a theme by Haydn, Op.56a - Theme in Bb major

Credits:
BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Douglas Boyd
The theme on which Brahms' variations are based was almost certainly not written by Haydn at all!
The original title "Variations on the St. Anthony Chorale" is often used.
Credits:
The BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Grant Llewellyn.
To listen to the BBC's analysis, presented by Stephen Johnson go to,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/discoveringmusic/pip/jn1ve/

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• Chorale listen
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[corksmusic1]

I think you are right; four, four, three really works well and yet...

This is a visual analysis of the BBC programme 'Discovering Music' and the presenter clearly counts 'five', and then describes a winding down in the last six bars.

I have left a link in the drop-down bar. The description is around the 9th minute into the programme.

[jewgienij131]

hehehe



[raphberry]

(and just to avoid unnecessary argument, I' know the piece is by Brahms and not Haydn, it was just a little side joke)

[raphberry]

@BECawyer I just did this piece in my tonal analysis class for homework, the professor and I both thought it was 5+4+3, with the last measure of the five-bar phrase overlapping and also serving as the first measure of the four-bar phrase (it would be wrong to discount it as part of either phrase, although I agree with you that 4+4+3 sounds much closer than 5+6). The term my book uses is "phrase overlap" and Haydn was apparently all about it.

[BECawyer]

Although the head of the first phrase does return at 0:58, it is not correct to split the remaining measures of this section into one group of 5 and one of six. Four, four and three fits much better to the musical structure.

[zebrabob88]

OBOE(: