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Johannes Brahms

Tragic Overture (Brahms)

The Tragic Overture (), Op. 81, is a concert overture for orchestra written by Johannes Brahms during the summer of 1880. It premiered, under Hans Richter, on 26 December 1880 in Vienna. Most

Structure#

The Tragic Overture comprises three main sections, all in the key of D minor. Theorists have disagreed in analyzing the form of the piece: Jackson finds Webster’s multifarious description rather obscurist and prefers to label the work’s form as a “reversed sonata design” in which the second group is recapitulated before the first, with Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture as a possible formal model.

Instrumentation#

The work is scored for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, and strings.

  • Orrin, Howard. Program Notes: Tragic Overture, Op. 81 (archived 2016)
  • – (Using a recording by Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic)
Composer
Johannes Brahms