Brahms' Waltz Op. 39, No. 2 - Listener's Guide

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) arranged his 16 Op. 39 piano waltzes from his own original four-hand piano version of the set. Through recitals, recordings, and private studies by amateur pianists, these waltzes have remained popular among classical music enthusiasts to the present day.

Here is a listener's guide for Op. 39, No. 2.

Character
The meter is the usual 3/4 of the waltz, and the key is E major. The tempo indication consists of a metronome marking of a dotted half note (one full measure) at 42 beats per minute, or a moderately fast 126 quarter notes per minute.

The principal theme is marked dolce ("sweetly" in Italian). Indeed, the piece has a quiet, gentle, lilting sweetness of character in contrast to the loud drama of the preceding waltz (No. 1).

Form
The form is binary (in two sections): AB.

The first section, A, begins with a phrase, a, moving from the tonic (I) to the dominant seventh (V7). That phrase is repeated exactly till the final measure, where it has a simple V chord. Thus, A = aa', with 16 measures.

The second section, B, begins with phrase b moving from V to V7. Phrase c begins and ends on the tonic. Section B is then repeated. Thus, B = bcbc, with 32 measures.

Therefore, the overall form in terms of phrases is aa'bcbc, and the total number of measures played is 48 (6 phrases X 8 measures each).

With more details, the form is as follows:

Aa (8 measures), I - V7
Aa' (8 measures), I - V
Bb (8 measures), V - V7
Bc (8 measures), I - I
Bb (8 measures), V - V7
Bc (8 measures), I - I

What to Listen For
While this waltz is harmonically much simpler than its predecessor in the set (No. 1), especially in terms of structural pillars (beginnings and endings of phrases), it focuses the listener's attention instead on melody, specifically on the extraordinary use of a single one-measure motive to weave a beautiful melodic line.

Aa and Aa'. After a quarter-note upbeat on the fifth degree of the scale, the principal motive of the piece occurs in the first full measure.

Rhythmically, the motive is a dotted quarter note followed by an eighth and a quarter. That rhythmic pattern is in the top voice in an incredible 42 of the 48 measures in this waltz.

Melodically, the motive covers the interval of a minor third from the third degree to the fifth degree of the scale (G-sharp to B). That interval, especially after it is filled in with the intervening A in the next measure, is crucial in the work.

The motive serves to build the rest of phrase Aa, which ends with a cadence on V, preceded by its own dominant (V of V). On the third beat of the V measure, the seventh is added to become V7 and to lead smoothly back to the repeat of the phrase.

At the end of the repeat, the V remains V through the whole measure (the repeat is labeled phrase Aa' because of this harmonic difference from phrase Aa).

Bb. Phrase Bb continues the V chord from the previous measure. In fact, the whole phrase is, structurally, an 8-measure V chord. However, the harmonic and melodic embellishments that occcur during those 8 measures are a compressed display of genius.

Here are four examples for the listener:

(1) In the first 2 measures of phrase Bb, the first three melody tones are B, C-natural, B. That half step up and down echoes the same intervals in G-sharp, A, G-sharp in the first 3 measures of phrase Aa.

(2) The three notes B, C-natural, B also form the entire bass line of phrase Bb: 2 measures on B, 4 measures on C-natural, and then 2 measures on B again.

(3) The extension of the melody in phrase Bb, from the 1st measure to the 5th measure, consists of two similar units: C-natural, B, A; and then G-natural, F-sharp, E. Each unit consists of a half step down and then a whole step down. That interval pattern echoes, in inversion, the half step up and whole step up of G-sharp, A, B in the first 2 measures of phrase Aa.

(4) As if to reinforce the significance of that interval pattern, Brahms repeats the G-natural, F-sharp, E unit in a middle voice (emphasized with heavy octaves) in the 6th measure of phrase Bb in the midst of a colorful augmented sixth chord that leads to V and V7 at the end of phrase Bb.

Bc. This phrase is, at least for the first five measures, basically a repeat of phrase Aa. The last 3 measures change slightly to lead not to the V of phrase Aa but to a cadence on the final tonic.
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Brahms, Johannes. Op. 39, Waltzes for the Piano. Schirmer's Library of Musical Classics, vol. 1260. New York: G. Schirmer, Inc.