Peter Whitehead – Violist

I have a lot of favourite composers, but Johannes Brahms is probably the one I would have to put at the top of my list. I love all his symphonies, and he wrote a lot of fantastic chamber music too! Today, I wanted to share the second movement, ‘Andante moderato’, of his Fourth Symphony.

This was the final symphony Brahms wrote in his life, written in 1884, and premiered in 1885 by the the Court Orchestra in Meiningen, Germany, who were conducted by the composer himself. Although this is Brahms’ ‘Symphony No. 4 in E minor’, this movement’s main key is actually in E major.

For me, this movement demonstrates a whole range of characters and feelings, from tenderness and sweetness, to being more stoic, and perhaps even confronting. How each person feels when listening to this music is up to them.

What I like about this performance by the Philharmonie de Paris is that there is no conductor! Usually, there would be someone to conduct the orchestra for big symphonic works. But conductors are just one way of creating a musical interpretation of the piece performed. Experienced musicians in world class orchestras are usually very in-sync with each other anyway, so this sort of performance can provide a new energy to their playing.

The rest of the work is fantastic, so I’d highly recommend listening to it all!