Mozart's Influence On Johannes Brahms

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) was a foremost nineteenth century composer. His works grew the Romantic repertoire: four symphonies, choral works including the German Requiem, many large and small ensemble works, piano and organ works, and folk song arrangements. The focus of this paper is on his impact on the clarinet repertoire. This paper begins with a brief biography, followed by a discussion of Mozart’s compositional influence on Brahms, next a brief history of the sonatas, then a stylistic analysis of his Sonata in F Minor No. 1, and finishing with Brahms’s influence on the clarinet. Johannes Brahms was born on May 7, 1833, in Hamburg, Germany. Brahms’s father was an innkeeper and a musician. When he was seven, he began to study piano with his father. When he was ten, he played a private concert to earn money to save for his future education. Brahms learned music theory and began composing at the piano. He began playing in dance salons in the area to earn money to help his family with expenses. At age fourteen, Brahms’s long hours had an ill effect on his health. He was offered a rather long holiday at Winsen-an-der-Luhe

The clarinet enters with a descending line that is embellished with turns. Section A is repeated two times. The first time, it ends on a half cadence. The second time, it ends on a perfect authentic cadence in A-Flat Major. Section B is faster than Section A. It has faster rhythmic and harmonic motion. The clarinet plays a slurred descending line similar to the beginning accompanied by sixteenth notes in the piano. The sixteenth notes switch to the clarinet before the key changes to E Major. Section A melody line returns in the piano in E Major, which changes to C Major, and then back to A-Flat Major. Section A is completely restated. Sixteenth notes lead to a restatement of the B section. The melody line is repeated once more and then the movement