Brahms published nothing between the Op. 10 piano Ballades in 1856 and the First Serenade in 1861, but the young composer was not idle during those years; in fact, he was working on some of his most ambitious conceptions to that point in their earliest forms, most notably two works that started as symphonic drafts, the serenade itself and the First Piano Concerto.  One piece that also took shape was a quartet for piano and strings in C-sharp minor that contained a slow movement in E major.  It existed in complete or near-complete form by 1856, but it would be set aside.  In 1863, he released two vast new works for the medium in G minor and A major as Op. 25 and Op. 26, among the most extensive and ambitious of his chamber compositions.  The piece in C-sharp minor would not surface again until the 1870s, when the mature composer rethought its ideas, lowered its home key by a half-step, revised two movements and composed two new ones.  Curiously, one of the preserved movements does not seem to have been the E-major slow movement, although the slow movement in the new work is in that key (the “relative” key to C-sharp minor but not closely related to C minor).  This key relationship is not unusual, however.  It appears in no less a work than the First Symphony.  Brahms’s statements indicate that the first two movements were revised, the last two being new.  The movement that appeared as the scherzo may have been the original finale.  As it stands, it is most unusual for a designated scherzo movement, being a concise ternary form with no formal contrasting “trio” section.  The last two movements begin with long solos for cello and violin, indicating that they may have started life as part of projected sonatas for those instruments.  Indeed, the finale’s opening has a striking affinity to that of the later G-major Violin Sonata (Op. 78), and the songs on which that movement would be based are from Op. 59, contemporary with this piano quartet.  Despite its isolation from the two earlier quartets, Op. 60 has much in common with them, especially the expansive outer movements.  Its slow movement is more disciplined than those of Opp. 25 and 26, and its much shorter scherzo movement, despite the unusual form, is more “scherzo-like” than the huge intermezzo-style structures in the earlier works.  The finale is a straightforward sonata form, albeit with a large development section, but the first movement is experimental, with a set of variations as a second theme.  Most of its recapitulation is greatly recomposed from the exposition--except for its most unusual moment with plucked string octaves on the dissonant note E (pointing toward the slow movement in that key?).  Brahms himself associated the piece with Goethe’s The Sufferings of Young Werther in early and later versions.  The epistolary novel from 1774 deals with a young man who is passionately in love with a married women whose husband he greatly admires, culminating in his suicide.  It would form the basis for Jules Massenet’s 1887 opera.  Brahms never explained any explicit musical connections, but the last chord of the finale, a sudden C-major blast after a quiet wind-down, could be interpreted as Werther pulling the trigger.  The quartet was first conceived around the time of Robert Schumann’s death, and the opening hints at his “Clara” motif.  The “Werther” idea is most likely connected to Brahms’s feelings for Clara Schumann.

IMSLP WORK PAGE
ONLINE SCORE FROM IMSLP (First Edition from Brahms-Institut Lübeck)
ONLINE SCORE FROM IMSLP (From Breitkopf & Härtel Sämtliche Werke)

---

1^st Movement: Allegro non troppo (Sonata-Allegro form). C MINOR, 3/4 time.
EXPOSITION
0:00 [m. 1]--Theme 1.  After a loud two-measure opening octave C from the piano, the strings enter with a preliminary version of the theme.  It begins with two halting, anxious half-step descents from the violin, harmonized with rising figures from the other two strings, played at a hushed volume.  The violin then gradually descends in a murmuring, mildly syncopated line, still accompanied by the other strings, ending on the “dominant” note G harmonized an octave below by the cello and a fourth below by the viola.
0:24 [m. 11]--The piano plays its loud octave call to attention again, but it is a step lower on B-flat, an abrupt key shift.  The strings begin their response again, starting in B-flat minor.  The half-step descent in the violin is followed by an upward leap, then another descent of a whole step and another upward leap, all with direct harmonies from viola and cello.  After this expansion, the murmuring descent follows, with rapidly changing harmony that moves from B-flat minor and again reaches the “dominant” G in C minor.
0:45 [m. 21]--At the arrival on G, the cello plays a distinctive downward descent of a fourth and a fifth, G-D-G, but then slides down to G-flat.  At that point, the piano enters in low octaves, playing the same descent, but starting on G-flat, a half-step lower.  After this, the strings and the piano bass shift back to B-flat minor, then to F major, and finally back to G via a so-called “augmented sixth” chord.  These slow chords are very mysterious, steadily diminishing in volume.  After the arrival back on the G harmony, the viola, then the violin, play striking, highly intrusive upbeat-downbeat pizzicato octaves on E-natural, a note that suggests C major rather than minor and sounds extremely strange in the context.
1:07 [m. 31]--The piano now takes the E-natural, but immediately and forcefully moves it toward a “dominant” chord on G.  At the same time, the strings cascade down the C-minor scale in unison, beginning on A-flat.  At this point, the piano begins the full statement of Theme 1, beginning with the fully harmonized half-step descents, now played grandly against churning viola and cello on C, the violin supporting the piano harmonies.  The piano then continues the theme with syncopated arching lines in octaves as the violin continues the strong accents on the first two beats of each measure using some double and triple stop chords.  The churning viola and cello add harmonic notes above their C’s on those beats.
1:19 [m. 38]--The piano, still in octaves, begins to play three-note upbeats leading into downbeats with chromatic melodic motion.  The viola and cello still reiterate their C as a “pedal point,” but add other notes too, reaching up while the piano rests.  The violin, meanwhile, has its own wide-ranging melodic line that moves with both the other strings and the piano, with strong upbeat-downbeat motion and several wide upward reaches.  The volume steadily builds until all instruments land with great force on a C-minor downbeat chord after the upbeat-downbeat motion is briefly disrupted.
1:26 [m. 42]--Transition.  All three strings break into tremolo-like unison sixteenth-note motion, rising toward a held note.  The piano punctuates this after the downbeat with powerful chords.  The unison string motion resumes, again landing on a held note, and the piano chords suddenly shift from C minor to D major, functioning as the “dominant” in G minor.  Once again, the unison string motion begins.  Now the held arrival notes are shorter, and the piano chords are more continuous.  After two measures of “dominant” harmony on D, there is another sudden shift toward B-flat, in a major-minor mixture.  The volume rapidly diminishes, and the violin, then the viola drop out, the cello settling down over quiet piano chords.
1:43 [m. 52]--Now tranquillo and dolce, the viola resumes the tremolo-like motion, soon joined by the cello a third below.  These instruments then descend in slower quarter notes as the violin enters on the tremolo-like sixteenth notes, rising on each beat.  All of this is in B-flat major.  The piano now makes its entry, with the right hand alone playing in double thirds, rising steadily on the tremolo-like motion as the violin descends on the quarter notes.  The piano thirds themselves now descend as the viola, then the staggered violin and cello enter on the sixteenth notes.  Over a held low octave F in the piano, the continuous violin and the staggered cello rise and fall on the sixteenth notes against descending viola lines.
1:55 [m. 59]--A sudden harmonic shift is triggered by a “diminished seventh” chord in the piano, and the key moves toward the distant G-flat major.  The violin’s sixteenth notes emerge into a series of dolce upward leaps, steadily moving down and supported by piano chords grouped in a two-beat cross-meter.  The cello begins to murmur on a true sixteenth-note tremolo.  
2:04 [m. 64]--Another sudden “diminished seventh” arrives, and the viola plays dissonant rising half-steps, taking over for the gentle violin leaps.  The cello tremolo follows the new harmony.  After two measures, the unstable harmony settles on B-flat “dominant” harmony, which will lead to E-flat major for Theme 2.  The cross meter continues as the cello tremolo gradually slows to triplets, then straight eighth notes.  As the volume diminishes and the motion slows, the viola and piano discreetly drop out.
2:15 [m. 70]--Theme 2 (E-flat major).  The piano alone presents the grand and expressively warm theme in the “relative” E-flat-major.  A descending line is played against an ascending bass, originally in broken octaves but then narrowing to an upper “dominant” pedal point above the rising line.  Two turning figures mark the midpoint of the phrase as the bass turns downward.  Further descent with syncopated left-hand pulses and a melodic note held over a bar line lead to a mid-range arrival on the “dominant” harmony.
2:34 [m. 78]--The remainder of the Theme 2 area is presented as a set of variations.  Here in the first of these, all three strings make their entrance.  The violin takes the lead with off-beat rising octaves leading to stepwise descents.  The violin’s leaps are followed by octave leaps in the piano right hand, initially holding to the “dominant” B-flat.  The piano’s bass, meanwhile, again has the ascending line, now staying in broken octaves.  The cello holds a “pedal point” B-flat while the viola has a dolce line in arching quartet-notes.  Halfway through the phrase, after a brief turn to minor, the “pedal point” breaks and the cello drops out.  The soaring violin and the piano octaves lead to the “dominant” arrival, the viola holding longer notes.
2:50 [m. 86]--The second variation introduces a change of style and texture.  The violin and viola begin to play a unison B-flat in triplets with an internal long-short rhythm, dolce.  The cello, played pizzicato, joins this lead-in measure in a descending line.  The piano enters with a new version of the theme in sixths, doubled in both hands.  Its rising melody has notes held over bar lines.  The violin/viola triplet B-flats continue, and the cello has another plucked descent.  Halfway through, the doubled piano hands break their sixths with an internal chromatic descent.  The cello has shorter figures, including broken octaves.  The melody closes with gentle rising grace notes.  The violin and viola deviate just once with a downward turn
3:04 [m. 94]--The third variation begins with the same lead-in measure from the strings.  For the first half of the statement, after the piano enters, it is simply a minor-key version of the second variation.  Halfway through, however, there is a strong harmonic shift.  The violin and viola move away from B-flat and introduce leaping motion while the cello plucks continuous leaping quarter notes.  The volume builds strongly.  The harmonic shift is initially up a half-step to E major, but with the “enharmonic” re-spelling of notes from sharp to flat, the “dominant” in E-flat is again achieved with two strong descents leaping to upbeats.  The hands break their doubling here, the left now adding bass support approaching the climax.
3:18 [m. 102]--The fourth and final variation is a grand climactic statement of the theme in its original form, harmonized richly in the piano right hand against rising triplet-rhythm arpeggios in the left hand.  The violin doubles and decorates the theme with sweeping figures, including broken octaves.  The viola harmonizes the violin, and the cello supports the bass line.  After the fourth measure, things start to thin a bit with the viola slowing its motion and joining in harmony with the cello.  The violin continues to decorate the melody, but all strings drop out at the seventh measure.  The piano winds down the theme, changing the melody at the very end to a straighter descent leading into the closing gestures from Theme 1.
3:35 [m. 110]--Closing material.  The opening gestures from Theme 1 return in the piano in E-flat major, but with the minor-key tinge lent by the lowered sixth degree.  The violin decorates the gestures with a new idea of long notes leading into shorter three-note upbeats, then a syncopated descent.  The piano reaches its lower range.  It now has the gestures in octaves rather than harmony, but the violin and viola join them to harmonize, the cello now taking the new decorative idea.  The cadence is delayed into the next measure, after which the piano bass, then the strings alternate in reiteration of the note E-flat (harmonized a third above in the viola).  The piano right hand then plays five octave E-flats leading into the development.
DEVELOPMENT
4:01 [m. 122]--The piano continues with its right-hand octave E-flats.  Against them, the violin and viola present the opening of Theme 1 in E-flat minor, now with the syncopated arching lines from the full version at 1:07 [m. 31].  They are harmonized in sixths.  After two of the arching lines, the opening gestures, now much lower, are joined by the piano’s left hand playing in sixths, and the right-hand octaves move up to F.  A chromatic shift down on the second gesture leads the key up a level on the circle of fifths, to B-flat minor.  The violin and viola drop out, allowing the piano left hand to continue with the arching lines.
4:17 [m. 130]--The piano is still alone, and its hands now move outward in contrary motion.  The right-hand octaves move up, mostly in chromatic half-steps (with one whole-step exception near the beginning) and including one repeated note.  The left-hand sixths move down in syncopation, off the beat in alternation with the right-hand octaves on the beat.  They also become chromatic, particularly in their lower notes, and briefly contract from sixths to fifths, the top note becoming static on A-flat.  They expand again to sixths and one seventh before settling on E-flat minor harmony together with the right-hand octaves, which have reached that note an octave higher than before.  The volume diminishes even more.
4:25 [m. 134]--The piano alternates the octave E-flat between the right hand, high on the beat, and the left, low off the beat.  The Theme 1 gestures are heard again in sotto voce violin/viola harmony.  The new element is the cello, which has the tremolo-like sixteenth notes.  After the violin and viola break into their descending lines, the cello motion widens to a broad tremolo on an open fifth.  The cello then drops to a reiterated B-natural, signifying a change of key.  The piano octaves reinterpret E-flat as D-sharp, then slide up to E-natural.  The violin and viola have off-beat notes that also facilitate the key change.  Finally, the piano octaves move to B-natural and the volume swells dramatically.
4:40 [m. 142]--The key signature changes to five sharps, signifying an arrival on the remote key of B major.  There, a new grand and martial version of Theme 1 is presented by all four instruments, the viola providing a churning tremolo in rapidly repeated double-stops.  The transformed theme incorporates an exaggerated long-short rhythm and two upward slides in the violin and piano right hand.  At the end of the second slide, the harmony and key have shifted toward F-sharp, the “dominant” in B major.
4:51 [m. 148]--Rising octaves on the upbeat shift the harmony again, now to the obliquely related A major, where the “martial” version of the theme is heard again with somewhat different melodic orientation.  Only one of the exaggerated long-short rhythmic figures is heard, and the sliding figure marks a quick return to B, but now that harmony is transformed to the preparatory “dominant” in the next key, E minor.  The alternation of B-major chords with A minor (the “subdominant” in E minor) facilitates this.  The strings play powerful unison A’s and then a triplet-rhythm descent leading to the formal key change.
5:02 [m. 154]--The key signature changes to one sharp for E minor.  The strings in unison reiterate the opening Theme 1 gesture, and the piano responds with powerful octave triplets and rapid, very difficult left-hand six-note arpeggios on the upbeats.  This figuration continues, making powerful harmonic shifts to B-flat and B.  The Theme 1 gestures move up accordingly in the unison strings.
5:11 [m. 160]--In another intensification, the figures are tightened over two measures to two-beat units, creating a cross-meter “hemiola.”  The harmony shifts from B toward G, hinting quickly at the home key of C minor.  The strings remain in unison, the viola adding a tremolo element.  They now join the piano right-hand octaves on the triplets.  The left hand still has the six-note arpeggios, compressed into “downbeats” in the two-beat units.  When the regular pulse is restored, the six-note arpeggios are expanded to both hands, the strings moving to forceful harmonies.  The hint at C minor is suddenly wrenched back toward G major.
5:19 [m. 164]--The original “martial” version of the theme from 4:40 [m. 142] is played, directly transposed from B major to G major.
5:29 [m. 170]--The passage from 4:51 [m. 148] is played in a direct transposition to F major leading back to G.  The G is transformed to a “dominant” in the home key of C minor, signaling the impending re-transition and imminent recapitulation, but this re-transition is greatly extended.  The closing triplet descent is changed from a direct stepwise motion to an arpeggio, leading into a prolonged “dominant” rather than an actual arrival.
5:40 [m. 176]--Re-transition.  The string triplet continues into another one in the next measure, an A-flat leading down a half-step to G.  This pattern is taken by the piano left hand in the very low bass, which reiterates the A-flat-G-G triplet over and over for eight measures.  In the first one, the right hand overlaps the string triplet with a clashing “straight” rhythm arpeggio in octaves.  After this, the volume very suddenly diminishes, and an extended canon is played between the viola and the violin at the octave and one measure apart, based on the second variation of Theme 2 from 2:50 [m. 86].  The cello punctuates the violin answer with the “straight” rhythm arpeggio just heard in the piano, played pizzicato.
5:47 [m. 180]--The viola introduces an upward-arching triplet into the Theme 2 variation material used for the continuing canon.  The cello plucks a low G in each of the next two measures against the continuing piano bass triplet, which takes on a murmuring effect.  The triplet leads into four-note descents that create meter and bar line-crossing two-beat units in both the viola and the answering violin.  The cello has another plucked descent here, this time simply descending two octaves on repeated G’s.  The viola breaks into rising triplets, and the violin imitates.  The cello moves to a repeated plucked A-flat after its descent on G.  The piano adds a block “diminished seventh” chord in its right hand, which has been inactive.
5:54 [m. 184]--There is a sudden harmonic shift up a half-step to A major.  The first note in the piano bass triplets shifts, as do both the violin and viola (now a third apart, as the canon has broken).  The cello plays the familiar plucked descending arpeggio in “straight” rhythm, now altered to end with a descent toward A.  The volume begins a long and steady buildup.  Another viola/violin canon begins on the Theme 2 variant, now at the third and only two beats apart, punctuated by a plucked cello descent on A and E.  This already breaks after three measures.
6:00 [m. 188]--The harmony shifts back toward A-flat with a “dominant” chord in the right hand, which has again been resting, and the first note of the left-hand triplets moves to B-flat.  The viola attempts to continue the canon with the upward-arching triplet, but the violin has already diverged with a wider rising arpeggio.  The cello plays another plucked descent emphasizing B-flat and E-flat.  The emphasis on B-flat only lasts a measure before shifting up another half-step to B.  The piano plays a colorful “augmented” chord, and the violin plays triplets, first arching down, then rising.  One measure later, there is a shift up to C, but it is a “dominant” in F minor, punctuated by another plucked cello arpeggio.
6:06 [m. 191]--With the agitation and volume steadily increasing, yet another canon begins in F minor, and it is in three parts and only one beat apart.  The violin follows the viola a sixth above, and the piano right hand, in octaves, follows a fifth (or tritone) above the violin.  The plucked cello punctuates as expected.  The viola breaks the canon by echoing the violin, although there is one more viola/violin exchange on the Theme 2 variant, a third apart against another plucked cello descent.  The left-hand piano triplets expand again, the first note moving to E and F (briefly major), then to F-sharp against descending octaves.
6:14 [m. 196]--The left-hand triplet finally expands to a full octave above the low G, from which the second and third notes have never moved.  All instruments, including the piano’s right hand, join this triplet octave figure on G (the cello bowed), reiterating it fortissimo for two measures.  This seems like the long-delayed final “dominant” preparation for the recapitulation, and indeed it is, but expectations are thwarted when the G moves up another half-step to A-flat, a note held by all instruments.
RECAPITULATION
6:20 [m. 199]--Theme 1.  The key is C minor, and the opening descents of the theme are heard there in strong piano chords, but the actual “tonic” harmony of C minor is undermined by a persistent A-flat in the held piano bass and cello.  The violin and viola leap down to C, still in triplets, the first note of which is held over two straight bar lines.  The continuing descent of the theme is heard in the violin and viola, playing in octaves against rising right-hand piano chords, the piano bass and cello finally moving to low C.  The violin/viola descent follows the pattern from the opening, leading down to the “dominant” note G.
6:34 [m. 206]--The expected hold on G is replaced by a sudden and forceful piano chord of C major in the C-minor context.  This is followed by an F-minor chord and a so-called “plagal” cadence back to C minor.  The violin and viola briefly respond with a descending half-step leading back to the “dominant” harmony.  The C-major chord and plagal cadence are then reiterated by the piano.  The violin and viola, still in unison, begin their response two measures earlier with the descending half-step an octave higher, then back down to the original level, and finally two downward leaps, diminishing quickly in volume.
6:48 [m. 213]--The violin and cello, in octaves, suddenly break into the tremolo-like rising sixteenth-note motion from the transition, using notes from the major.  The piano responds in octaves, shifting back to minor as the violin and cello move down in slower harmonized quarter notes.  Upon the piano’s arrival, the viola alone takes the original major-key inflected sixteenth-note motion, and the piano has the same response without the octave doubling.  The cello joins the viola on the harmonized quarter-note descent.
6:55 [m. 217]--In a completely natural way, the passage from 0:45 [m. 21] emerges, the only part of the recapitulation that is a literal repetition of exposition material.  The cello descent, slide down to G-flat, colorful harmonic progression and most notably, the pizzicato E-natural in viola and violin, are given in full.  The strings join the piano on the E-natural upbeat, which will now lead in a different direction.
7:15 [m. 227]--Transition.  Instead of the full-throated statement of Theme 1 that followed the pizzicato E-naturals before, there is now a new, brief, and subdued transition.  The key signature changes to one sharp, used for G major and E minor.  The latter key is used first, leading naturally from the plucked E’s.  A descending scale in octaves is played by the piano.  The strings respond with a harmonized fragment of the Theme 2 melody.  The piano plays another descending scale passage, now only in the right hand against E-minor harmony in the strings, the cello playing its familiar descent.  The E then shifts down to E-flat, and now a descending right-hand scale passage and cello descent in E-flat major is played in a lower octave.
7:28 [m. 233]--A further shift down to D leads to a left-hand bass scale in D-major, slowed to triplet rhythm.  The violin and viola gradually resolve to create the full D-major harmony.  The piano bass D then murmurs in trill-like alternation with C-sharp, still in slower triplets.  D major serves as the “dominant” leading to G major where, most unusually, Theme 2 will be presented.
7:35 [m. 236]--Theme 2 (G major).  The “dominant” key is typical for Theme 2 in the exposition of a major-key work.  It is not typical for the recapitulation in either major or minor movements.  Here, it was in the typical “relative” E-flat major in the exposition.  At any rate, further variations of Theme 2 are presented here in G.  The viola alone plays the original melody here against a piano accompaniment that consists of undulating mid-range right-hand figures including harmonies, mostly thirds, with a slowly arching left-hand bass.  The right hand leads up to a higher range against the viola’s last descent.
7:52 [m. 244]--The first variation is marked molto dolce and is quasi-canonic, with imitations leading from violin to viola to cello.  All begin with G, but become narrower, each continuing a step higher than the previous instrument.  The violin moves to pulsations against the viola entry, and the viola does the same against the cello.  The violin stops its pulsations when the viola starts them.  The piano plays slow right-hand harmonies against all of this.  There is then one final imitation, the piano bass entering with the same line as the cello, which plays slower pulsations, the violin and viola joining the slow right-hand harmonies.
8:09 [m. 252]--The piano takes the lead on the next variation, which at first only differs from the original theme in the addition of an upward decoration on the first descents.  The piano bass establishes a long-short rhythm on D and C-sharp in two-beat units that cross the three-beat measures.  The viola has a rising line against a held cello D, then descends with long-short rhythm as the violin joins the held D.  The piano then breaks into its own two-beat units, completely obscuring the meter with gentle rising leaps, moving steadily higher, the last two held.  The viola also rises, and the undulating piano bass on D and C-sharp continues.
8:25 [m. 260]--The ending of the last variation has moved to D.  Back in G, but now minor, the third variation begins as simply a minor-key transformation of the second.  At the point of the piano’s two-beat units, however, the piano bass changes from D and C-sharp to E-flat and D, and the key is moved up a half-step from G minor to A-flat major.  Corresponding to the previous variation, this moves toward E-flat.  The piano reaches even higher than in the last variation.  The ending is extended by two measures to slide back to G with slow chords and a trailing piano right hand.  The familiar triplets with internal long-short motion as used in the exposition from its second variation at 2:50 [m. 86] begin on the upbeat in violin and viola.
8:46 [m. 270]--The fourth variation here is a transposition to G of the second variation in the exposition from 2:50 [m. 86], with the constant violin/viola triplets and the doubled melody with notes held over bar lines.  The differences lie in the plucked cello figures, and they are significant, pointing toward a major change in the next variation.  Instead of the descending lines, the cello only has broken octaves on D, still with downward direction, and then moves to short upbeat-downbeat punctuations on D.
9:00 [m. 278]--It appears that another variation with this style and texture will follow, but in the lead-in, the cello suddenly takes the bow and forcefully plays the descending broken octaves on D, but then lands on G.  The violin drops out, and the viola takes the triplets in harmonized double stops.  The G harmony is changed to a “dominant,” and the first three measures of the expected variation are presented in C major, building strongly.  The cello maintains a pulsing bowed bass with some broken octaves.  Suddenly, the harmony is wrenched to F minor, where the first two measures are given forte, the violin joining the triplets with interjections on the downbeats.  The intense buildup continues.
9:10 [m. 284]--Two more two-measure units follow.  The first is in C minor, the first appearance of the home key in the second theme group (C major was just heard), but it moves quickly toward G minor.  The second unit, which extends this transitional “variation” to ten measures, thwarts the expected G minor with its “relative” B-flat major, and with great effort, this is wrenched up a step toward C, but once again the goal is C major, not minor.  The volume has now intensified to a powerful fortissimo.
9:16 [m. 288]--Closing material.  It is greatly extended and includes elements from the development section.  With the grand arrival on C, the opening Theme 1 gestures are heard in powerful violin/viola harmony.  The piano punctuates these with the equally powerful octave triplets borrowed from the development section passage at 5:02 [m. 154].  The cello provides a bass foundation confirming the key.  A second set of Theme 1 gestures and octave triplets is heard on the “subdominant” F major.
9:22 [m. 292]--The strings break into agitated triplets, the violin and cello in octaves while the viola adds harmonies.  The violin/cello line zigzags on A and G.  This clashes with even more agitated motion in the piano, which has descending arpeggios in double-speed triplet rhythm (sixteenth notes).  These cascading arpeggios are on a “diminished” harmony pulling toward the remote B major.  The clash between the string and piano figures is not merely of speed and harmony.  The piano arpeggios begin off the beat and are metrically offset from the strings.  After two bars, the intensity settles down and the strings have “straight” two-note descents followed by rests (two-beat groups) that do establish a “dominant” harmony in B major.
9:28 [m. 296]--The rapidly descending triplet-rhythm piano arpeggios continue with diminished volume.  The strings change to sostenuto undulating motion.  The violin and cello are in contrary motion and the viola again adds harmonies.  After two measures of implied B major, there is a shift to C major via A and G.  The volume builds again as the piano triplets become wider and change direction, moving upward.  The viola joins the steady string motion as C major finally changes to the neglected home key of C minor.  The undulating string figures change to two-note descents alternating high and low, striving toward an arrival point in C minor after a very brief chromatic diversion to harmony on D-flat.
CODA
9:47 [m. 304]--The C-minor key signature arrives, but its establishment is further delayed by a prolongation of the “dominant” area with a reiterated low G in the piano.  These low G’s underpin a series of rippling unmeasured arpeggios on three separate “diminished seventh” harmonies.  The arpeggios are split between the hands and notated as 32nd notes in groups of ten, nine or eight.  The strings, meanwhile, emerge into the yearning melody first heard in the violin at the close of the exposition from 3:35 [m. 110].  The violin and viola are in unison while the cello independently supports the bass and strings.  The “diminished sevenths” break with a “subdominant” arpeggio followed by strong “dominant” chords as the strings reach upward.
9:56 [m. 308]--The C-minor harmony arrives, but the persistent G remains in the bass.  With sudden agitation, animato, the piano rushes into a passionate, angular, and unsettled passage in triplet rhythm with the left hand on the beat in single notes staggered with the right hand in octaves (one and two octaves above the left hand) rapidly following each left-hand note.  The strings play punctuations every two beats, creating a cross-meter.  After two measures, the strings tighten up to punctuations on each beat, restoring the meter.  The viola and cello add triplet figures to the punctuations while the violin plays straight chords.  This culminates in a cascading descent with harmonies added to the first right-hand octave of each triplet.
10:04 [m. 313]--The descent lands on an octave C in all instruments, recalling the movement’s opening and finally providing a solid point of arrival on that note.  This is held for two measures, and then the gestures from Theme 1 follow in the piano and cello, decorated and led into by rising octaves in the violin, then the viola, then both.  The Theme 1 material continues in the piano and cello while the violin and viola, in unison, return to the yearning melody from the end of the exposition, reaching high with much syncopation and another colorful “diminished seventh” harmony.  
10:25 [m. 321]--The volume suddenly becomes quiet for the drawn-out final cadence, with the strings following the piano chords for the first two “dominant” measures.  The piano then holds a C-minor chord for a full measure, and the strings respond in another full measure, surging slightly.  All four then play the resigned final chord together, holding it for two bars, lingering on the hard-won C-minor harmony.
10:55--END OF MOVEMENT [326 mm.]

---

2^nd Movement: Scherzo – Allegro (Ternary form scherzo without formal trio). C MINOR, 6/8 time with four measures of 9/8.
A Section
0:00 [m. 1]--Part 1 (a).  In a very brief introduction, the piano, with powerful octaves in both hands, leaps from an upbeat down an octave to a downbeat on G, followed by a rising half-step.  It is joined on another quick upbeat octave descent by the strings, who hold their note as the piano descends to the keynote C, still in three (no longer four) octave doubling.  This downward octave leap from an upbeat becomes the basis of the main material.  The piano alone takes the first hushed statement starting with a strong upbeat accent.  The gesture is fully harmonized in the right hand against thumping bass notes and octave leaps.  The gesture turns around, and then back up with a very quick harmonic motion from C minor to B-flat major.
0:08 [m. 9]--The continuation changes B-flat major to minor, adding strong accents on the upbeats.  There follows a harmonically unstable sequence and buildup using a long note followed by three short ones.  The strings join here in harmony, adding three-note punctuations to the long notes in the piano.  The harmony, reflected in the thumping piano bass, quickly moves from B-flat minor to D-flat major to F-sharp minor to D major to E-flat major.  At the climax, the piano works down in long-short figures with groups of two quick repeated notes in the strings.  The descent in the piano bass and cello is fully chromatic.  The strings become continuous, and the sequence ends with rising figures reiterating a cadence on the “dominant” G.
0:23 [m. 23]--Part 2 (b).  The strings alone have a strong and sudden change in character, playing quietly in full harmony and beginning on the downbeat, presenting a new idea with long notes and “snap” short-long figures on two downbeats.  It is in G minor.  The piano immediately dovetails with and varies this gentle idea, switching from G minor to G major.  The strings take it up again, one measure shorter, remaining in G major, slowing slightly, ending with a full cadence, but with the fifth D on top of the last chord.
0:37 [m. 34]--With a measure of preparation, the main material resumes in the piano.  The initial statement is varied by making the motion more continuous, eliminating the original long-short element.  The motion to B-flat follows the original model, but there is then a different diversion to E-flat minor, still in the piano and returning to the long-short rhythm on the upbeat octave descents, again with strong upbeat accents.
0:43 [m. 40]--Another sequence begins with longer chords or octaves followed by three short ones.  The strings join as expected, with the viola and cello on the original three-note groups on downbeats, but the violin has a more drawn-out line, expanding the long-short rhythm to two-bar units.  The harmony is on B major and E minor as the buildup begins, then moves toward F minor.  The long-short figures in the piano start here as would be expected, but without the strong chromatic element.  The piano right hand is now doubled by the violin and the bass by the cello, the viola becoming continuous on the three-note figures.  The harmony moves back to C minor via the “subdominant” and “dominant” areas on F and G.
0:51 [m. 48]--The long-short figures are expanded by two inserted 9/8 measures, adding a bit of breathing space.  The “subdominant” F-minor area is again emphasized, particularly the harmony on D-flat.  With the volume increasing even more, the regular 6/8 motion resumes, the figures steadily rising.  This culminates fortissimo with a cascading arpeggio on the D-flat-major chord, unison in all instruments, arching down and back up.
0:59 [m. 54]--Taking a cue from the “breathing spaces” in the 9/8 bars and the patterns of the original long-short gestures at the beginning, the figures are now separated by rests.  All three strings now churn continuously and powerfully, and the cello and piano bass have another fully chromatic descent by half-steps.  Harmonies on D-flat major and B-flat minor are still emphasized, but there is a strong pull toward the home key of C minor.  After a continuous long-short descent and ascent in the piano, there is a strong upward motion in “straight” notes to a long-awaited C-minor cadence.  The half-step motion in the bass ends with the “dominant” note G, which then propels the satisfying C-minor arrival.
1:06 [m. 62]--The cadence is extended with upward leaps in the piano right hand, again emphasizing the note D-flat, but the thumping cello and the solid piano bass remain anchored on C.  The violin and viola have unison responses to the piano leaps.  After two sequences of this, the D-flat is abandoned and the keynote C is given full reign.  Upward leaps in violin and viola alternate with those in the piano’s right hand, the cello still thumping its low C.  The volume diminishes as the pitch range moves down.  The main section closes with the quietly thumping cello against more isolated viola interjections on C.
B Section--F major/minor
1:16 [m. 72]--The violin and viola, in octaves, play a broad yearning phrase with two upward reaches.  It is clearly in F major.  The cello has a reiterated long “pedal point” on the “dominant” C.  The piano, also in octaves, has a faster accompaniment in downward winding triplet groups, each of which is a simple “upper neighbor” figure.  These move down twice against the upward string reaches.  The presence of the note A-flat in these figures suggests minor rather than major.  Both the piano and string lines are quiet, smooth, and expressive.  A second sequence is played in B-flat minor/major with the cello “pedal point” on F.
1:24 [m. 80]--Now forte, the violin and viola change to harmonies in expanded thirds (tenths).  They move down with a prominent short-long gesture on the downbeat.  This gesture is stated twice, at first continuing to suggest B-flat, and then its “relative” G minor.  The cello drops out here.  The piano’s “neighbor note” triplets continue, beginning with an upward reach and working down.  Twice, the “neighbor” figures are disrupted by an initial downward leap. 
1:28 [m. 84]--The violin/viola harmonies slow down, holding notes over bar lines, and suggest harmony on E-flat.  The piano triplets continue to move down, with two more downward leaps.  The cello subtly but significantly rejoins on a slow rising line.  The chromatic note F-sharp/G-flat in the strings adds color, and the volume diminishes.  The right hand drops out, the left hand settles on a broken octave triplet on B-flat (to which the harmony is redirected) and the violin/viola harmonies contract to simple thirds.  They move down, the harmony shifting from B-flat back toward the “dominant” in the section’s home key of F.
1:35 [m. 91]--The quiet opening passage from 1:16 [m. 72] is reversed, with the broad yearning phrase now in piano octaves and the “neighbor note” triplets in violin/viola octaves.  The cello still has its “pedal point” notes.  The sequences in F and B-flat are presented, each with the two upward reaches. 
1:43 [m. 99]--The piano continues with the forte harmonies in thirds and the prominent short-long gestures, the violin and viola continuing on the triplets, but the harmonies are shifted from those at 1:24 [m. 80].  They remain solidly anchored on D minor (“relative” to F major), even on the second gesture, which adds fifths to the harmonies.  The violin/viola triplets break their “neighbor note” motion to settle on repeated A’s, and their second sequence is the same as their first, without the shift seen in the previous piano triplets.
1:48 [m. 103]--Instead of slowing down, the patterns continue with another similar sequence shifted down to A minor.  The repeated notes in violin and viola are now on E.  The volume steadily diminishes here.
1:52 [m. 107]--The harmony abruptly but smoothly shifts to the section’s home key of F, where the piano reiterates the figure with the short-long gesture.  The violin drops out, the viola continues its neighbor figures and repeated notes (now on C), and the cello settles to a long repeated “pedal point” on F.  After the second short-long gesture, the piano reiterates the closing C-G fifth three times, all held over bar lines, as the viola settles solidly on the repeated C.  The volume diminishes even more leading into the re-transition.
Re-transition
2:00 [m. 115]--The character of the main A section returns.  The piano right hand, in the tenor range, plays rising figures in thirds clearly derived from the main theme, sotto voce.  These begin in F minor, the viola continuing its repeated low C from the end of the B section.  The piano bass reiterates a low F.  The right-hand figures briefly suggest C minor, but the bass remains on F, and the viola’s repetitions also leap up to F.  A second sequence seems to suggest B-flat minor and E-flat minor.  The piano bass moves up to B-flat, and the viola passes its repeated notes to the violin, also on B-flat.  A long and steady buildup in volume begins.
2:08 [m. 123]--The third sequence now suggests E-flat minor and A-flat minor in the continuing circle of fifths motion.  The violin continues to pulse on B-flat, then moves up to E-flat, as does the piano bass.  The viola has a new downward-leaping octave figure that follows the harmony.  The patterns are then shortened to the faster rising notes without the initial gestures.  A-flat is re-spelled as G-sharp, the key shifting quickly from the (now) G-sharp minor to C-sharp minor and finally pointing toward F-sharp minor with the bass on C-sharp as a “dominant.”  The piano bass and violin have moved to G-sharp and C-sharp, and the viola continues its downward-leaping octave figures.
2:16 [m. 131]--Approaching the climax, the patterns are abandoned, and the piano erupts into passionate long-short motion in the right hand against the continuing low bass notes.  The viola takes over the repeated notes, briefly in octaves.  The cello, which has been absent, takes over from the viola on the leaping figures but they are now rising and incorporate a third and two fourths.  The violin has the downward-leaping octaves, but they are metrically displaced from the cello.  The key remains F-sharp minor, with heavy emphasis on the “dominant” C-sharp.  After four measures of the passionate long-short motion, the piano chords and broken bass octaves rise and fall, respectively, in extreme syncopation against the steady viola.
2:21 [m. 136]--The key abruptly shifts up a half-step to G minor, where the passage of passionate long-short motion is repeated, as is the measure of extreme syncopation at the end.  This moment where the harmony is wrenched upward marks the climax of this dramatic re-transition.
2:25 [m. 141]--The key moves to D minor, confirmed by descending octaves in the piano over a chromatic bass.  The strings respond in unison with the same descent.  After a second descent, the key is wrenched up a half-step to E-flat minor, where the descents are given with different bass motion, which settles on A-flat.
2:34 [m. 149]--At this moment of extreme tension, the G-flat in E-flat minor is changed to F-sharp, creating an anticipatory “augmented sixth” chord.  The viola changes to the pulsing note, now in octaves on C, while the violin and viola have the leaping octave together, now rising, also on C.  The piano left hand has off-beat leaping figures that strongly suggest the original scherzo material.  A lower D is subtly added to the “augmented sixth” harmony, creating a stronger pull toward the preparatory “dominant” in C minor.  The breathless figures contract toward the arrival, with strong syncopation in the unison violin and cello.
A Section Reprise
2:39 [m. 155]--Part 1 (a).  The arrival glosses quickly past the “dominant” and moves directly home to C minor, where the music spills into the introductory gestures from the very beginning, differing slightly by the presence of the strings on the first gesture and full harmony added to the octaves.  After the bass descent (now in two octaves against a held chord), the main material, suddenly hushed, proceeds exactly as it had at the beginning, with the piano-only presentation and the quick motion from C minor to B-flat.
2:48 [m. 163]--Continuation in B-flat minor with string punctuations and rapid harmonic motion ending on the “dominant” G, as at 0:08 [m. 9].
3:03 [m. 177]--Part 2 (b).  New idea with “snap” short-long motion in G minor and major, passed from strings to piano and back to strings, as at 0:23 [m. 23].
3:17 [m. 188]--Resumption of main material with diversion to E-flat minor, as at 0:37 [m. 34].
3:23 [m. 194]--Sequence moving back to C minor, as at 0:43 [m. 40].
3:31 [m. 202]--Two inserted 9/8 measures, harmony on D-flat, and cascading arpeggio, as at 0:51 [m. 48].
3:38 [m. 208]--Powerful passage moving back toward C minor, as at 0:59 [m. 54].  Everything remains identical until the very end, where the direction of the violin octaves is reversed, which is hardly noticeable.  The expected arrival on C minor does not happen, however, and the new coda-like extension follows.
3:46 [m. 216]--The cadence and its extension from 1:06 [m. 62] are replaced by a brief but extremely powerful coda.  The previous passage is given with reversed instrumentation.  The strings in unison play the long-short gestures, and the piano has the churning motion, played as arch-like figures in contrary motion between the hands, with strong use of harmonic thirds.  The volume is fortissimo.  The expected cadence is now even more strongly anticipated by continuous rising motion at the end in the unison strings.
3:54 [m. 224]--The strings delay the cadence even more, landing on an extended unison trill on the “leading note” B-natural and the keynote C.  Under this trill, whose completion promises great satisfaction, the piano continues to churn on its arching figures, expanding the harmonies to a “pre-dominant” chord on D, not the expected G.  This “pre-dominant” harmony gives the cadence a striking “plagal” character, but most of the attention is on the string trill.  That harmony on D rises steadily and dramatically against the continuing trill, which is closed off by the typical downward “after-beat” turn.  This turn uses the note A-natural instead of A-flat, implying a major-key arrival, and indeed that is where the piano harmonies lead.
3:58 [m. 228]--The change of the long-delayed cadence from C minor to C major is extraordinarily fulfilling and thrilling.  The strings hold their final C as the piano continues to churn its contrary-motion arching figures on C-major harmony for four measures.  The instruments all cut off in the next measure, and the C-major chord is reiterated twice over two measures, the first one also short and cut off, and the last held one leaping down to the lower range in the piano, the strings also leaping down to a low unison C.
4:12--END OF MOVEMENT [234 mm.]

---

3^rd Movement: Andante (Expanded ternary form--ABCA’B’).  E MAJOR, 4/4 time.
A Section
0:00 [m. 1]--The first statement of the broadly lyrical main theme is given entirely by the cello.  The violin is absent until m. 17 and the viola until the upbeat to m. 27.  It begins with a downward chain of thirds and upward turn in the cello’s singing high register.  The piano accompanies with syncopated right-hand chords in its tenor range against solid bass octaves.  Already at the outset, the warm E-major cello melody has a chromatic note borrowed from E minor, C-natural.  It continues to spin out with upward reaches and then smoother downward turns with slightly more active piano bass.  The phrase closes with a chromatic descent “corrected” by a descending triplet before an arrival with melodic suspension on the “dominant” B major.
0:33 [m. 9]--The next phrase turns back toward E with two statements of the opening gesture, the second higher, but there are now even more borrowed “minor-key” notes, including G-natural, again C-natural, and then the lowered “leading tone” D-natural, briefly suggesting the “subdominant” A major in subsequent upward-striving lines.  Several notes defining E major have been undermined, with major barely holding sway over minor until the syncopated descent at the close of the phrase.  The arrival cadence on E major, which is satisfying, is extended by a measure to coincide with the violin entry.
1:07 [m. 17]--The violin enters with a varied thematic statement, taking the melodic lead against the cello, initially in contrary motion.  The piano accompaniment changes to more continuously flowing motion in the right hand, beginning off the beat in the first six measures.  The violin, after a decorative opening, follows the contour of the original phrase until the fourth measure, where it makes a strong turn toward A major.  The cello counterpoint here incorporates triplet figures and syncopation over strong beats.  The violin turns back toward E and approaches a cadence there, but delays it with rising figures, including a triplet imitated by the cello, before descending chromatically toward the cadence from its highest notes.
1:48 [m. 27]--Transition.  The viola finally enters in harmony with the violin on the upbeat to the cadence.  The violin and viola play gentle descents against new rising, flowing triplets from the piano, the cello finally breaking for a couple of beats.  It re-enters quickly to join the viola in a flowing response to the descending figures.  Thus, the instrument whose arrival was delayed is given the opportunity to harmonize with both other string instruments.  The piano triplets arch down and back up.  A second sequence of the violin/viola descents is given with a chromatic piano turn, and now the viola/cello response is a step lower and more chromatic, beginning the motion toward the “dominant” B major for the B section.
2:06 [m. 31]--The flowing motion is transferred to the piano bass, which becomes truly active for the first time.  The viola and cello, now not entirely parallel, rise in pitch and volume as the transition to B major is solidified.  Finally, the violin, which has briefly paused, enters from on high to close off this transitional phrase.  The volume rapidly diminishes again, and the piano briefly drops out as the strings complete the transition, with notes held over a bar line together and chromatic motion by half-step in the violin descent.
B Section--B major
2:22 [m. 35]--The violin takes the lead here with an angular theme that begins on the upbeat and is both highly syncopated and highly chromatic.  The viola plays “straight” notes against the syncopated violin line.  The piano accompanies with arching triplets that all begin with a descending octave, its bass playing long syncopations on the “dominant” note F-sharp.  All three instruments are marked molto dolce, and the presentation is very tender.  The cello enters after two measures, also marked molto dolce, and joins with the viola on the syncopated rhythms as the violin melody becomes “straight,” with high upward reaches in long-short rhythm.  The piano figures are expanded to two beats and incorporate the left hand.
2:39 [m. 39]--A new idea is stated by the cello, consisting of short descending figures in long-short rhythm.  These are immediately passed to the viola.  The piano, meanwhile, has a striking new texture, with the hands in contrary motion, contracting on the “dominant” harmony (F-sharp), then expanding on the home B-major harmony, all in steady syncopated motion.  This pattern is repeated as the violin and cello play the new idea in harmony, which is again passed to the viola.  There is a mild buildup at the end.
2:57 [m. 43]--There is now a complete motion to the “dominant” key (F-sharp in the context of B major), reflected in the continuing contrary-motion piano syncopations, which shift there, moving from a contracting C-sharp “dominant” harmony to an expanding on F-sharp.  The violin and cello play the long-short descending figures in harmony against long syncopated notes in the viola.  The patterns are cut off on the next downbeat, creating an odd three-measure unit.  The harmony moves quickly back toward B major.
3:09 [m. 46]--Quieting down, the violin begins the main B section theme again, now with the “straight” notes in the cello and the long syncopations in the viola.  The piano left hand drops out, leaving its right hand to the arching triplets.  The first measure is repeated with a subtle but noticeable variation and intensification, and then the violin broadens its melody in the third measure (previously the second), still syncopated, but cutting out shorter notes.  The fourth measure diverges in a new extension with rising chromatic motion in the violin, the piano continuing its regular right-hand pattern. 
3:27 [m. 50]--The extension spins out over two more pianissimo bars, with the cello taking the original melody, harmonized above by the violin, and the piano moving to rising triplets that use the left hand.  The viola now takes the “straight” notes again.  These two measures amount to a third statement of the main melody, but it is quickly cut off by the return of the new ideas from 2:39 [m. 39].
3:36 [m. 52]--There is a return to the new idea from 2:39 [m. 39], but with different instrument order and rhythmic variation at the end.  The piano still has the contracting “dominant” and expanding home-key harmonies.  The first exchange is viola, then violin instead of cello and viola.  In the next exchange, the viola and cello play in harmony (instead of violin and cello), and the viola varies the pattern by adding a new triplet figure.  The last exchange is to the violin and cello (instead of viola), who play in harmony with both including the triplet at the end.  There is a stronger buildup here than before.
3:53 [m. 56]--The continuation is reduced to two measures and avoids the full motion to the “dominant” key, subtly changing the contracting C-sharp “dominant” harmony to a C-sharp minor “seventh” harmony in the context of B major, and then closing things off with the expanding harmony on B.  The string instruments remain in harmony, first viola and cello, incorporating the triplet at the end, then violin and viola.  There is more buildup to the climax as the B section, the main part of the middle portion of the movement, reaches its conclusion in B major and flows directly into the climactic C section or re-transition.
C Section or Re-transition
4:01 [m. 58]--A passionate variant of the B section material is presented by the piano, which decorates the melody with triplet figures, retaining the syncopation.  The left hand plays broader motion, mainly in broken octaves or fifths, remaining in “straight” rhythm that clashes uneasily with the triplets.  The strings also play in “straight” rhythm, with surging unison motion in the violin and viola and slower bass support in the cello, often shadowing the piano bass.  The harmony rapidly shifts from B major to C-sharp minor (also closely related to E major), then seeming to move to an arrival on the movement’s home key of E.
4:16 [m. 62]--Suddenly the surging strings cut off, and the piano emerges into a forte variant of its syncopated contrary motion idea, contracting on the “dominant” harmony in E.  The left hand has the usual motion, but the right hand decorates its motion with descending broken octaves in the triplet rhythm.  This quiets down rapidly.  The strings then take the contrary motion (which they have not done before), not on the expected E but on A minor (the “subdominant” harmony), and not expanding, but contracting as the piano has just done.  The violin and cello contract in contrary motion, the viola descending with the violin, but decorating the syncopation with triplets.
4:23 [m. 64]--The piano passage is repeated at a quieter level and with the right hand an octave lower, now decorated by the long-short descending figures, passionately played by the viola.  The strings follow again (still contracting, not expanding), now on C major instead of A minor, still with the violin and cello on the main contracting motion and the viola decorating with triplets.  The piano, in octaves, plays the long-short descending figures, which it has not done before.  Again, an arrival on E seems imminent, but on E minor, not major.  The piano drops out here, and a descending violin line in the long-short descending figures seems to move there, supported by isolated pulses in viola and cello as the volume diminishes.
4:42 [m. 68]--The piano now seems to dissolve the material, with both hands in triplets, playing in counterpoint, the left hand in arpeggios and the right hand in long-short triplet motion, reaching up and down, pointing strongly toward E minor.   As the right hand reaches a low point and the piano trails away, the strings enter alone, shifting the key again, now toward C minor.  The cello strongly hints at the long-absent main A section theme with its opening descent, and the violin adds to this an expressive rising line, also derived from the A section.  The viola has pulsing syncopation on C.  The violin line culminates in a turn figure, and the instruments move strongly toward an implied cadence on C minor.
5:06 [m. 73]--The piano interrupts the implied cadence with its “dissolving” material again, but remains centered on C minor.  The left hand still has the triplet arpeggios, but the right hand now has a more direct descent, beginning off the beat in syncopation, in “straight” rhythm instead of triplets.  The strings take over again as they had before, with an analogous motion toward G-sharp minor.  Their statement is essentially the same as the one they had played before in C minor, with the return of A section material and a motion toward an implied cadence in G-sharp minor.  This is, however, deftly avoided with the abrupt return of the A section itself, changing the G-sharp to the third of the chord in E major, the home key.
A' Section
5:30 [m. 78]--The turn back to E major is abrupt, but the return of the opening theme is satisfying.  The first melodic phrase, up to the “suspended” arrival on the “dominant,” is played by the piano in unison octaves.  The first downward sweep has the hands two octaves apart, with the right hand high, but they contract to one octave apart after that.  All three strings accompany.  The syncopated harmonic element previously played by the piano is taken by the violin.  A new element is a series of continual rising pizzicato arpeggios in triplet rhythm, passed from the cello to the viola.
6:02 [m. 86]--The next phrase from 0:33 [m. 9] is passed to the theme’s original instrument, the cello.  The rising triplet arpeggios move to the piano, split between the hands.  The viola adds a new counterpoint, beginning off the beat in each measure, mixing arching lines with syncopated notes on upbeats, moving to just the syncopated figures in the last two measures.  The same melodic and harmonic patterns are presented as before.  The violin is absent for the entire phrase.
6:36 [m. 94]--The violin enters with its varied thematic statement, as it had at 1:07 [m. 17].  The cello counterpoint is also mostly the same as it was there.  The differences are in the piano, which now reverses the direction of the triplet arpeggios in the right hand, so that the ascending left hand (often beginning with a broken octave) alternates with the descending right hand.  The viola continues with its off-beat syncopated figures, but then begins to add a new counterpoint to the pre-existing violin and cello lines, resulting in a fuller and richer overall texture.
7:17 [m. 104]--Transition.  It begins as it had at 1:48 [m. 27], with the violin/viola descents and then the flowing responses in viola and cello.  The piano returns to its textures from the earlier statements, a smooth transition as it has already been playing in triplet rhythm.  A change comes at the end of the second sequence, where after a chromatic inflection, everything is shifted up a fourth from the previous presentation, allowing the music to remain in E major instead of shifting to the “dominant” B.  The viola and cello also exchange their parts from before.
7:36 [m. 108]--The piano bass takes the flowing motion, as at 2:06 [m. 31].  The viola and cello, still reversed from before, have their rising lines.  The passage is cut by a measure, eliminating the high violin entry, and conflating its descent into the viola/cello lines.  Still at home in E major, the viola, left alone, leads into the coda, which is a new version of the B section material.
B’ Section (Coda)
7:51 [m. 111]--The material of the B section returns in E major, with the melody in the viola instead of the violin.  It is analogous not to the beginning of the section, but to the passage from 3:09 [m. 46] with the partial repetition and intensification of the second measure.  The cello has the “straight” notes and the violin has the long, syncopated ones.  The piano, marked molto dolce, has rising triplet figures instead of arching ones.  They are split between the hands (both of them in the treble range) and, from the third measure, have a chord on the last, highest part of each triplet figure.
8:11 [m. 115]--The extension is analogous to 3:27 [m. 50], the violin taking over the melody, molto dolce.  The viola has the “straight” notes and the cello (who had the melody in the analogous passage) the longer syncopated ones.  The piano patterns here almost match the rising triplets from the analogous passage.  Instead of reaching down and leading into new material, as the cello had before, the violin repeats its first measure, leading into an upward “yearning” figure on the “subdominant” A-major harmony, swelling mildly in volume.  All instruments briefly pause.  The upward “yearning” figure on A major is repeated with the violin and piano an octave lower.
8:32 [m. 119]--The strings and piano bass lead a soothing and satisfying E-major cadence.  The arrival is punctuated by the opening descent of the main A section melody, played by its original instrument, the cello, harmonized by the other strings.  The piano takes up the descent, filling it in as a scale with the hands two octaves apart.  The upward turn in long-short rhythm follows, with both hands adding a harmony in thirds.  The cello accompanies this with a rising pizzicato arpeggio in triplets, the viola providing the harmonic background.  This arpeggio is passed to the violin.  The piano pauses, then repeats the long-short figure in the lower range over a bass octave, leading with the violin into the held final chord.
9:08--END OF MOVEMENT [122 mm.]

---

4^th Movement: Finale – Allegro comodo (Sonata-Allegro form). C MINOR, Cut time [2/2].
EXPOSITION
0:00 [m. 1]--Theme 1.  The first 28 measures are like a violin sonata, with no entry from the viola and cello.  The texture, rhythm, and structure of this opening resemble the finale of the yet unwritten first violin sonata, Op. 78.  That movement was based on the “Regenlied” songs, Op. 59, Nos. 3 and 4, which are contemporary with this quartet.  The long violin solo begins on a half-measure upbeat, the piano quickly following with its perpetual motion accompaniment.  Two similar gestures begin with a descending third and rising line, the second reaching higher, then the phrase works down.  The obsessive piano patterns have winding motion (with Beethovenian short-short-short long figures) over low bass octave punctuations.
0:11 [m. 9]--The next phrase begins like the first, but the second gesture reaches even higher and there is a motion toward G minor, the “dominant” minor.  The arrival on G with the “leading” tone F-sharp is reiterated twice, the second time extending the “leading tone” a full measure.  Under the arrival and its repetitions, the piano figuration changes to arching arpeggios, ending with a brief turn to G-major harmony.
0:25 [m. 21]--The next phrase, the last of the violin solo, is marked dolce and begins with the familiar perpetual motion in the piano, the violin entering with descending thematic fragments emphasizing A-flat major, D-flat major, and F minor before arriving back on C minor with leaping, detached long-short figures.  The piano bass octaves become more active here.
0:36 [m. 29]--The viola and cello finally make their entry on the upbeat, but only with unobtrusive punctuations.  This phrase is like the last, but the piano makes a significant change to the perpetual motion, which is now doubled in octaves between the hands, dispensing with the bass octave punctuations.  The viola and cello entries replace these.  The violin’s thematic fragments are now joined together, particularly between the second and third, with a new soaring upward reach.  There is also a buildup in volume here.  All has been light and quiet to this point.  The leaping, detached long-short figures are extended by two measures and reach steadily upward, the viola and cello now playing in constant straight motion.
0:48 [m. 39]--Transition.  At the climax, the piano halts the perpetual motion idea and alternates with the strings (in harmony) on short-short-short-long gestures like the opening of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony (in the same key).  After four measures of these alternations, a strong C-minor cadence merges with a new pattern.  The violin and viola, in octaves, break into forceful detached arpeggios in broad quarter-note triplets.  The piano dovetails arching figures between the hands, in inward contrary motion.  The cello retains the “Beethoven” rhythm on upbeats.  Two measures of this material lead to another C-minor arrival. 
0:56 [m. 45]--The patterns of quarter-note triplets continue, with two two-measure units leading toward apparent C-minor cadences.  Both, however, are avoided with “deceptive” motion to A-flat major.  The second seems like a downward extension of the first.  The second “deceptive” motion is especially surprising, and the figuration continues, driving forward for two more measures, strongly confirming A-flat (especially in the piano bass and cello) before the strings drop out.  The piano takes over the descending quarter note triplets for four more measures.  The right hand is offset from the left (effectively creating six-note groups).  These change from major to A-flat minor in the last two bars before pivoting to E-flat.
1:09 [m. 55]--Theme 2 (E-flat major).  The violin and viola in octaves play a sweeping melody beginning in E-flat and derived from the main theme.  It is in major but has minor-key inflections.  The piano continues the triplet arpeggios with the right hand offset from the left, turning them up and then arching down and back up.  The violin/viola melody soars up and down, then down and up.  It builds in volume, gradually moving away from E-flat, in the subsequent fragments, which push higher.  The piano triplets are now mostly ascending.  The key center moves back toward C minor approaching the climax.
1:24 [m. 67]--At the climax, the violin and viola soar to a high A-flat.  The cello, which has been absent, enters with a soaring response to the held note.  The piano figuration, continuing with the same triplet patterns, outlines a strong cadence motion in C minor.  The high note and the cello response are stated twice before the violin and viola reach even higher, to a top C, which moves down by half-step to B-flat, and the cello has another response under these long-note motions.  This time the harmonies in the piano figuration move not from F to G to C as before, but from F toward B-flat, leading back to E-flat for the closing material.  The strings drop out, and the piano cascades down on the “dominant” arpeggio.
1:35 [m. 75]--Closing material.  Suddenly quiet and mezza voce, the strings have a solemn major-key chorale.  The piano responds flippantly and almost dismissively with leggiero descending arpeggios on “dominant” harmony, still in the quarter-note triplets that offset the right hand behind the left.  The responses stretch each phrase to five measures.  The second chorale phrase is like the first but has an expected shift toward the “dominant” key.  The third chorale phrase moves lower, settling back toward E-flat with chromatic inflections.  The responding piano arpeggio now slows to “straight” rhythm.  The fourth phrase finally has a full arrival on E-flat, with another “straight” piano arpeggio on the E-flat chord.
2:03 [m. 95]--In a brief re-transition to the exposition repeat (or to the development), the piano arrives on a low E-flat octave.  The viola plays the opening descent of a third from the main theme.  This is passed to the cello and back to the viola.  Meanwhile, the piano descends to D while still holding the E-flat.  The descending third is then taken by its original instrument, the violin, leading back to the exposition repeat on the first full measure.  The first notes of the piano’s perpetual motion accompaniment, an upbeat of three short notes (the “Beethoven” figure) are played in the bass in the first ending before the repeat (m. 98a).  In the original upbeat, they were an octave higher and in the right hand.
EXPOSITION REPEATED
2:10 [m. 1]--Theme 1.  Opening phrases of violin solo and perpetual motion piano, as at the beginning.
2:20 [m. 9]--Continuation with motion to G minor and major, as at 0:11.
2:34 [m. 21]--Ending of violin solo with active harmonic motion, as at 0:25.
2:44 [m. 29]--Entry of viola and cello, octave doubling in piano, buildup and intensification, as at 0:36.
2:57 [m. 39]--Transition.  “Beethoven” figures, C-minor cadence, and introduction of quarter-note triplets, as at 0:48.
3:05 [m. 45]--Continuation of quarter-note triplets with “deceptive” motion to A-flat.  Beginning of “offset” triplets split between the hands in piano with motion to E-flat major, as at 0:56.
3:18 [m. 55]--Theme 2.  Sweeping violin/viola melody against “offset” piano triplets, as at 1:09.
3:33 [m. 67]--Climax with cello entry, motion to C minor and back to E-flat, as at 1:24.
3:45 [m. 75]--Closing material.  String chorale with piano arpeggio responses, as at 1:35.
4:13 [m. 95]--Transition to development.  Descent of opening third passed between instruments, as at 2:03.  The second ending (m. 98b) only differs from the first in that all three string instruments play the lead-in to the first full measure of the development section, but with the same descending third.
DEVELOPMENT
4:19 [m. 99]--Much of the first part of the development is devoted to Brahms’s much-employed chains of thirds.  The unison string instruments begin with such a chain of three thirds, descending from the initial one from the opening theme, played against upward-arching fragments of the piano’s perpetual motion accompaniment, passed between the hands, and rising by octave three times.  This culminates on a type of “diminished seventh” known as a “half-diminished” sound suggesting a motion toward a key center of G.
4:24 [m. 103]--The key signature drops the three flats of C minor and the music is marked Tranquillo e sempre pianissimo.  The piano begins more figuration based on its typical accompaniment, beginning with the “Beethovenian” three-note upbeats, passing figures between the hands with each hand rising by octave.  The individual strings continue the chain of thirds, but pass the same third, A-F-sharp, between each other, violin to cello, back to violin, then viola.  The suggested key is D major.  Another sequence of piano figures begins, shifting to D minor, and the strings join in unison again, now continuing the downward chain of thirds in a sequence of three.  There is another arrival and pause on a “half-diminished” chord.
4:36 [m. 111]--The violin and viola take over the chain of thirds, passing a sequence of four between them.  The piano figuration is as before, but now it has an upward shift by fourths between each fragment, the fragments still passed from left hand to right hand.  The cello adds an accompaniment of rising thirds (not a chain) against the chain from the violin and viola.  Suddenly, the violin alone takes over the chain of thirds and speeds it up, adding mild syncopation and register shifts.  The viola drops out, and the cello figures take on an arching character.  The piano breaks its patterns, passing rising arpeggios between the hands.  A cadence in A minor seems imminent as the cello moves to plucked notes, but it is not completed.
4:47 [m. 119]--The expected A-minor cadence is thwarted by a descending chromatic scale from the piano, beginning from a high point and staying in the right hand.  This also ends the long chain of thirds.  The viola cuts this off with an arching line like the cello response at 1:24 and 3:33 [m. 67].  The violin and cello enter in support, the latter still plucked, as the viola line becomes heavily syncopated and turns down.  The string instruments settle on a held note (the cello again bowed), while the piano has its familiar fragments rising by octave as at the beginning of the development, suggesting an upward motion toward B.  Again, this culminates in an arrival and pause on a “half-diminished” chord as the cello and viola shift down.
4:58 [m. 127]--The pattern from 4:36 [m. 111] is presented again, shifted up by a step.  The only difference in the strings is that the arching figures under the faster syncopated thirds from the violin are played by the viola instead of the cello.  The piano figuration, however, is significantly changed.  All the original fragments are played by the left hand, and after the first one, the “Beethoven”-like three-note upbeat is removed.  They are joined by downward-arching figures in the right hand, inversions of those in the left.  This time, the expected cadence is in B minor, the cello again moving to plucked notes.
5:08 [m. 135]--The chromatic scale again thwarts the expected cadence, as it had at 4:47 [m. 119].  The viola enters with its arching line again, but this time the piano’s chromatic scale is extended by a measure, and the piano then echoes the viola line with the familiar “offset” between the hands.  The viola and cello both enter with plucked notes in alternation.  The piano emerges into the syncopated line with which the viola had continued before, still with the “offset,” extending it with two longer gestures and three shorter ones, moving gradually downward.  The violin enters with sequences of descending broken octaves, also steadily moving downward.  The shorter gestures stall before yet another chromatic scale begins.
5:22 [m. 146]--The descending chromatic scale is now in both hands in octaves.  The cello makes an entry with the same plucked “cadence” notes against it.  The left hand drops out, and the right hand continues in slower quarter-note triplets.  Finally, the scale breaks, and the viola enters with the “cadence” notes, bowed instead of plucked.  The piano plays chords suggesting a cadence, following the viola off the beat.  The cadence-type motion is extended, creating a strong anticipation for the full arrival in B minor, but it is averted yet again, this time by “deceptive” motion, with the “dominant” F-sharp in B minor sliding up to G.
5:36 [m. 155]--Now the chorale from the closing material (often identified as Theme 2), is heard in the strings in G major after the “deceptive” motion.  It is played in an embellished version, with full harmony and new active motion at the end of the phrase.  Instead of responding to it, the piano now accompanies it with undulating motion in quarter-note triplets against long bass octaves.  Before the phrase reaches a full close, it is broken by a rising arpeggio in the piano, still in the quarter-note triplets.
5:45 [m. 161]--The chorale phrase begins again, but without the violin and with the viola and cello starting in unison.  The undulating motion is now in both hands of the piano.  The phrase initially simply turns G major into G minor, but with the active motion, the key shifts to E-flat, another key related to the home key of C minor.  The viola and cello split into harmony, and the expected arrival in E-flat is interrupted by another rising arpeggio in the piano.
5:54 [m. 167]--The violin joins, beginning in unison with the viola, and the motion toward the expected cadence is reiterated and expanded, but again not fulfilled.  The piano again emerges into an arpeggio, but the E-flat harmony changes to another “diminished” sound, moving toward A-flat and then C minor.
6:03 [m. 173]--The piano bass takes up the arpeggio, moving home to C minor.  Suddenly, the initial tempo is indicated, and the piano’s right hand emerges into broadly arching figuration reminiscent of its “perpetual motion” accompaniment to the main theme.  The cello, then the violin and viola in unison, play a slow rising figure derived from the main theme itself.  It is in C minor, but the development is far from over.  The cello plays the rising figure again, but the violin and viola change it, now suggesting F major.  The left-hand harmonies under the perpetual motion-type figuration in the piano’s right hand support this harmonic progression and change from F major to F minor.
6:13 [m. 181]--The cello and the viola now have overlapping entries of the rising figure.  The violin then overlaps with the viola and speeds it up.  The faster version is passed back to the viola, then to the cello.  Under all of this, the piano harmonies seem to suggest a “dominant” harmony back home in C minor, but with the chromatic inflection of the note A-flat/G-sharp.  A crescendo that had begun in the previous passage now intensifies, with all instruments reaching a forte level.  The strings and the piano bass do in fact arrive on a huge “dominant” harmony based on G, suggesting C minor, but the right hand, in the bass range, undermines this with a trill-like motion suggesting B minor as the volume rapidly diminishes.
6:22 [m. 189]--Re-transition.  The violin ominously intones the main theme in B minor.  The piano accompaniment still has the character of perpetual motion, but it is lower and darker than before, over hollow bass octaves centered on the “dominant” F-sharp.  In the last two measures of the phrase, the melody is altered through repetition, and then wrenched upward to take the key up a third toward D minor.  The piano figuration and the bass move up accordingly, and the volume begins to build.
6:31 [m. 197]--Another statement of the theme begins in D minor, and this time the violin is harmonized by the viola.  The cello provides the bass foundation as the piano, having moved to the high register, plays the perpetual motion accompaniment with both hands in octaves and notated in the treble clef.  As before, the melody is altered at the end, but instead of repetition of the last gestures, they are shifted up a step, and the goal is now G minor.  The piano figuration reaches high, and the viola and cello have a reiteration of the last two-note violin descent as the volume builds more strongly.
6:40 [m. 205]--With the tension at its highest point, the strings begin a long series of two-note stepwise groups, initially all descending in violin/cello harmony with viola support in G minor/major, but soon incorporating upward figures.  The piano mirrors this motion in bass octaves and leaping right-hand broken octaves.  They key center seems to shift toward C.  The strings coalesce in unison octaves, still on the two-note groups, the cello dropping out of the lower descending ones.  High rising groups alternate with descending ones an octave lower except for two subtle upward shifts on the lower ones.  The piano changes to triplet rhythm, dovetailing broken octaves between the hands, each group stretching over four octaves.
6:50 [m. 213]--At the fortissimo climax, the strings have reached the note A-flat, the sixth degree in the home key of C minor and a note that defines that key.  They reiterate that note three times, holding it over bar lines.  The piano’s triplets now subtly move away from the pure octave doubling.  The left hand begins to move down the C-minor scale in its groups, and the right hand does the same two beats later, after adding reiterations of the A-flat.  Thus, the hands are an expanded third apart.  As the left hand reaches its bottom C, both hands begin to outline the C-minor chord, and the unison strings passionately blast out the main theme’s opening half-measure upbeat.  The passage resembles that at 1:24 and 3:33 [m. 67].
RECAPITULATION
6:56 [m. 217]--Theme 1.  The three-flat C-minor key signature returns.  The melody itself is as it was at the beginning, but it is now strongly played in unison by all three strings.  The piano accompanies this first phrase with continuing broken octaves in triplet rhythm dovetailed between the hands, as in the passage leading up to the reprise.  Again, the groups between the hands stretch out over four octaves.  The melodic contour resembles that of the previous perpetual motion accompaniment.
7:07 [m. 225]--The second phrase adheres more closely to 0:11 and 2:20 [m. 9], with a quick reduction in volume and a return in the piano to the original perpetual motion accompaniment.  The big difference is that the viola doubles the violin in unison octaves.  They are initially two octaves apart until the violin drops to its original level after the first gesture.  Another new feature is a plucked cello response of a rising fourth under the long melodic notes.  Halfway through the phrase, before the reiterations of the arrival on G, the viola separates from the violin and plays in harmony.  The cello punctuations change to descents, mainly of a fifth, the last of these spread out under the extended reiteration and arching arpeggio.
7:21 [m. 237]--Analogous to 0:25 and 2:34 [m. 21].  The viola makes the initial upbeat motion to A-flat that the piano had done after its three-note upbeat.  The descending fragments that the violin had played are now in piano bass octaves, harmonized a third above by the cello.  The violin has new descending lines that connect those in the bass.  The viola plays long notes with the cello/piano bass lines.  The piano’s right hand has constant broken octaves that double the new violin lines and are static between them.  The fuller texture gives more emphasis to the dissonance.  The closing detached long-short figures are now in the piano’s right hand on the offbeats after its leaping bass octaves.  The strings add mid-measure punctuation. 
7:31 [m. 245]--Analogous to 0:36 and 2:24 [m. 29].  The three-note “Beethoven”-type upbeats are now played by the viola and cello.  Otherwise, the piano returns to its original perpetual motion patterns doubled in octaves between the hands.  After two of the upbeat figures, the viola soars up and doubles the violin line an octave below, leaving the upbeats to the cello.  The buildup with the detached long-short figures brings all instruments back to what they played before until the end of the passage, where the piano turns down and the violin lowers its “leading tone” to avoid the climactic high point.
7:44 [m. 255]--Transition.  This is recomposed from the exposition for variety and to make the necessary key adjustments.  At first, the detached long-short figures are extended and moved to the viola and cello in octaves.  The violin takes the leaping figures in straight motion that the other two strings had been playing.  The piano continues its constant arching figures doubled in the hands, steadily moving upward.  Halfway through this extension, the three-flat key signature is removed, signaling a change from C minor to major.
7:49 [m. 259]--The extension continues for four more measures, building strongly.  The detached long-short figures go back to the violin and become more chromatic (also adding two “straight” motions), rising ever higher.  The arching perpetual motion figures move from the piano to the viola and cello in octaves, and the piano has leaping figures in both hands, the left-hand bass on the beats and the right hand playing after the beats.  The extension powerfully leads to the delayed climax.
7:53 [m. 263]--Climax, analogous to 0:48 and 2:57 [m. 39].  It is now in major, making it grander and triumphant.  The short-short-short-long “Beethoven” figures now alternate within the strings, the viola/cello pair followed by the violin in double stops.  The piano has already begun its arpeggios in quarter-note triplets, as usual with the right hand following and “offset” from the left, but now they are in contrary motion, with the left hand rising and the right hand falling.  After the four alternations in the strings, the lead-in to Theme 2 is abbreviated.  The piano arpeggios move in the same direction now, as expected.  The strings add repeated-note punctuations.  There is a brief hint of minor with an F-minor piano arpeggio.
8:04 [m. 271]--Theme 2 in C major, analogous to 1:09 and 3:18 [m. 55].  Having reached the second thematic area in the home key center, the presentation closely matches that of the exposition.  The viola and cello reverse roles, however in the lower key.  The cello doubles the violin’s sweeping melody, and the viola is absent.  The piano’s triplet arpeggios follow the previous pattern.  Approaching the climax, the harmonic motion is analogous, toward A minor and briefly away from the home key center.
8:18 [m. 283]--Climax, analogous to 1:24 and 3:33 [m. 67].  Again, the pattern is closely followed.  The piano’s left hand must be shifted up an octave in the first four measures due to the range of the keyboard.  The soaring response previously played by the cello (and which played a major role in the development section) is now played by the viola, which enters after its absence.  The initial top note is F, and the cadence motion is in A minor.  At the reach up to the Top A, there is the expected motion back toward C major, culminating in the piano's downward cascade on the “dominant” arpeggio.
8:29 [m. 291]--Closing material, analogous to 1:35 and 3:45 [m. 75].  The mezza voce chorale is given in C major with the same patterns as in the exposition.  The string chorale phrases alternate with the “offset” leggiero descending arpeggios in the piano, which slow to “straight” rhythm in the last two alternations.  The brief re-transition as heard before the exposition repeat and the development is omitted, the last piano arpeggio leading directly into new material for the coda.
CODA
8:58 [m. 311]--Suddenly, the piano loudly transforms the chorale in a triumphant forte statement.  The entire first phrase is presented, with the instruments reversing roles.  The piano’s bold phrase is followed by the triplet arpeggios in the strings in unison, the viola repeating each note to imitate the piano’s previous “offset” effect.  The second phrase appears to begin in the same manner, but the piano stalls after three chords and the strings respond with a “dominant” arpeggio in F, taking the lead from what would have been the continuation of the chorale phrase.  Another abbreviated three-chord piano statement ends with a “diminished” chord, which the subsequent string arpeggio expands to an unstable “diminished seventh.”
9:14 [m. 322]--In quicker exchanges based on the chorale material, two-chord groups in the piano are responded to by three-note arpeggios in the strings, still in unison with the viola imitating the “offset” effect.  One of these exchanges occurs in each measure for three bars, moving from harmony on F toward the “dominant” in C.  A fourth exchange is expanded, with the piano pausing on a third chord and the string arpeggio reaching up again, plunging farther down, and turning back up, moving from a “diminished” arpeggio to the foreign B-flat minor, and finally to the “dominant” based on G.  The strings reiterate their G (the cello having turned around) as the piano descends in its original “offset” triplet arpeggio.
9:21 [m. 328]--The last repeated G in the violin and viola becomes the upbeat in the return of material from the main theme.  The three-flat key signature returns, but the music does not immediately shift to minor.  Instead, the opening gestures of the theme are played in major by the violin and viola in harmony, with a strong pull toward the “subdominant” harmony of F, supported by the note B-flat in the cello and piano bass.  The piano reaches up against the long string notes, then descends against the rising figures, with harmony in both hands.  The violin, harmonized by the viola, emerges into four two-note descents against rising piano arpeggios, reaching higher each time as the bass moves down, the tension increasing greatly.
9:32 [m. 336]--At another climax, elements from the development section come together: the fragments of the original perpetual motion passed up four octaves in the piano; the arching line derived from the cello responses at the end of Theme 2; and the cadence motion usually associated with the plucked cello and usually thwarted.  The arching line is played by all strings in unison after a hammered arrival concluding the previous passage that finally confirms C minor.  They then join the piano in the now-forceful cadence motion.  It arrives on a C-minor arpeggio in the piano (and thus finally brought to completion) that is then supported by the same cadence motion in plucked violin and cello.
9:40 [m. 342]--The piano diverts this cadence with the familiar descending chromatic scale from the development section, played by the right hand and rapidly diminishing.  The viola alone (with bow) now takes the arching line (with which it had been associated in the development), and the cadence notes are played by the plucked cello alone.  The chromatic scale, having descended three octaves, comes to a close, and the cadence motion is reiterated yet again by the strings alone, led by the viola and punctuated on weak beats by the now-bowed viola and cello.  The ending of the implied cadence is stretched out, and its fulfillment will come with the subsequent return of Theme 1 material.
9:54 [m. 351]--The piano, beginning with the three-note “Beethoven” upbeat, returns to its original perpetual motion figures, with the left hand playing flowing, arching lines against it, the cello sustaining a low C that fulfills the long-awaited cadence, turning back to major.  The violin, also in major, plays the three descending fragments originally heard at 0:25 and 2:34 [m. 21], but at the level of the upper harmony played by the cello at 7:21 [m. 237].  Chromatic inflections, including notes from minor, steadily increase.  All is marked tranquillo.  The violin emerges into the detached long-short figures, marked dolce.
10:08 [m. 359]--The violin and cello sustain high and low C’s, the piano left hand drops out, and the viola plays the first two of the descending fragments, joined by a longer note.  The viola then swings up before its last descent, as the violin had done at 0:36 and 2:44 [m. 29] and the violin and viola had done at 7:31 [m. 245].  The piano patterns change to brief arpeggios closing with sighing descents, split between the hands.  The viola then descends chromatically in slower notes, closing off its motion with a skip down, turn back up, and leap down to C.  The violin cuts off its sustained C at the same time while the cello, after making a leading-tone motion to C in an upper octave, sustains its low C and the piano winds upward.
10:30 [m. 371]--The previous passage has remained in the major key, and the movement will end there.  The piano, having wound its way to a high point, now descends with both hands in octaves over a long chromatic scale spanning four octaves.  Against this, the viola alone, then the violin and viola in unison play the ubiquitous arching line.  They then stretch it out with double-length notes, the violin an octave higher, as the piano concludes its descent.
10:43 [m. 377]--The piano reaches its bottom C with a rest after the preceding D-flat (the note with which the long chromatic descent had begun).  With that C, the strings play a quiet C-major chord held over the bar line.  Halfway through the next measure, both the strings and the piano suddenly blast out another C-major chord that is unexpectedly forte.  The piano reiterates this on the closing downbeat at a lower level as the strings thump out an emphatic unison C. 
10:57--END OF MOVEMENT [379 mm.]
END OF QUARTET


BRAHMS LISTENING GUIDES HOME