Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Orchestra in A minor, Op. 102 (“Double Concerto”)

Program notes

About the Work

The Double Concerto, completed in 1887, was Brahms’s final orchestral work and carried a private purpose beyond its musical aims. For more than thirty years, the violinist Joseph Joachim had been one of Brahms’s closest friends and most important musical collaborators. But their relationship had ruptured in the early 1880s when Joachim’s marriage to the mezzo-soprano Amalie collapsed. Brahms, fond of Amalie, sided with her, and the wounded violinist broke off contact.

Years of estrangement passed. Then Brahms saw an opportunity: he would write a concerto for both violin and cello, with the cello part for Robert Hausmann, as a peace offering to Joachim. The concerto even incorporates the musical motif A–E–F, a permutation of F–A–E (Frei aber einsam, “free but lonely”), Joachim’s personal motto.

The gesture worked. The premiere took place in Cologne on October 18, 1887, with Joachim and Hausmann as soloists and Brahms conducting. The friendship was restored. Clara Schumann wrote in her journal: “This concerto is a work of reconciliation; Joachim and Brahms have spoken to each other again for the first time in years.”

Tonight two principals of the Berliner Philharmoniker, First Concertmaster Noah Bendix-Balgley and First Principal Cello Bruno Delepelaire, bring their own musical partnership to this profound and intimate work.

What to listen for tonight:

• First movement (Allegro): An orchestral introduction leads to an extended solo passage for the cello, almost a cadenza before the movement has properly begun. The violin joins, and the two instruments establish their dialogue. Throughout the movement, notice how Brahms gives both soloists equally important material, neither dominating.

• Second movement (Andante): A serene, song-like slow movement in D major. The two soloists intertwine in what has been described as one of Brahms’s most beautiful creations: intimate chamber music expanded to orchestral scale.

• Third movement (Vivace non troppo): A spirited finale in the Hungarian style Brahms loved. Listen for the rhythmic drive and the increasingly virtuosic interplay between the two soloists as the concerto builds to its exhilarating close.