Musical Borrowing
An Annotated Bibliography

Individual record

[+] Floros, Constantin. Brahms und Bruckner: Studien zur musikalischen Exegetik. Wiesbaden: Breitkopf und Härtel, 1980.

This book is the result of Floros's intensive study of Mahler, during which he found hitherto undiscovered clues to the interpretation of Brahms's and Bruckner's works. Most of the borrowings discussed confirm differences between the two composers in both ideologies and musical heritage. A comparison of the German Requiem by Brahms and the F Minor Mass by Bruckner shows that the corresponding excerpts from the Credo use different models. Brahms used Bach's cantata Wer weiss wie nahe mir mein Ende BWV 27, whereas Bruckner borrowed from Liszt's Graner Messe (41-51). The indebtedness of Brahms to Mendelssohn (64f.) and Schumann (124-143) and of Bruckner to Wagner (159f., 171-78 and 211-13) and Liszt (159f., 167-70) is underlined with many musical examples. That Bruckner modeled the second movement of his Fourth Symphony on Berlioz's March of the Pilgrims from Harold en Italie is the clue to his program (Lied, Gebeth, Ständchen), since the same sequence of sections is found in Berlioz's work. Movements or whole symphonies by Bruckner can beinterpreted by a comparison with Wagner's operas. Thematic concordances with the monologue of The Flying Dutchman (Act I, Scene II) lead to a psycho-programmatic interpretation of the Eighth Symphony, an interpretation that extends Bruckner's own vague explanations. Even if the two composers borrow from the same piece, they emphasize different aspects. Both of them emulated aspects of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Brahms's interest (First Symphony, last movement) lies in the Freudenmelodie and the recitative character of the introduction to the last movement, whereas Bruckner imitates the flash-backs, the rondo-like adagio and the original opening of the first movement (55-60).

Works: Brahms: Symphony No. 1 (56f.), Symphony No. 4 (64f.), Schumann Variations, Op. 9 (124-51), Ein Deutsches Requiem (41-47); Bruckner: Symphony No. 3 (51, 159, 168-70), Symphony No. 4 (159, 178-81), Symphony No. 8 (159f., 186-88, 21113), Symphony No. 9 (51, 168-70), Mass in F Minor (41-44, 50), Mass in D Minor (44, 51), Mass in E Minor (168-70), Helgoland (168-70), Tota pulchra es (168-70).

Index Classifications: 1800s

Contributed by: Andreas Giger



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