Brahms Symphony 1I will take a number of short extracts from this piece
and comment on each.
The first comment that must be made is on the tempo of the opening section.
It is marked Un Poco Sostenuto - i.e. a little sustained. It is strange
to begin a piece like that because it suggests the Sostenuto is in relation to something that
has gone before! However Brahms wrote this introduction quite some time
after the following Allegro, and it seems likely therefore that he is
suggesting that this opening is a little sustained compared to the following section.
I have heard it argued from this premise that the Allegro can be (say) dotted crotchet
= 100 and the opening is quaver = 80. But why would Brahms think of the pulse changing
from 2 in a bar to 6 in a bar? Surely it is more likely that the whole should be in 2.
That would mean something like 90 for the Allegro and the opening could then perhaps
be taken at (dotted crotchet) 60. To most people that have heard this work before
that tempo will verge on the shocking, as it is often taken in the range of
quaver = 70 - 90. But to me it makes the best sense of the evidence we have.
2. 1st Movement: Bar 1
Until I looked at the score I had no idea that the contra bassoon and double
basses play this heavy repeated C - it usually sounds like a timpani solo!
A little balancing work needs doing here.
 3. 1st Movement: Bars 9-10
This relates to the figure in the Allegro at 51ff. This latter is slurred
implying a diminuendo (reinforced by a written dim in the recap at 358ff).
Therefore I would suggest this works best with a crescendo in the first three
pizzicato notes in each bar, that is the ones in the first violins.
(Pace Gunther Schuller in his generally
excellent essay on this piece in 'The Compleat Conductor', who appears incapable of
considering the second beat of the bar being stronger than the first, despite
bars 358ff).
 4. 1st Movement: Bars 38ff
The Allegro doesn't need to go too fast. We are in C minor, with some
definite allusions to Beethoven's fate motif (first found in the horns at 46f).
In fact when Brahms himself said that 'The music is not exactly charming' I reckon
he was thinking of this movement. Every note must tell.
 5. 1st Movement: Bars 53ff
This, again, is a reflection of 11ff. Therefore I consider that the long
note should be fully slurred to the following quaver and only then is there
an articulation. Often there is an articulation either side of the quaver, thus
negating the very clear resolution onto that note, and also the clear connection
to bar 11 in the opening section. See, for example, the clarinet parts:
 6. 1st Movement: Bars 114-117
A nice simple example of tension/resolution in the woodwind.
The first chord needs playing slightly louder than the second.
 7. 1st Movement: Bars 188f
Sorry, but we're going to do this repeat!! When you first hear this the
first time bar is a real jolt (the second time bar is a much more natural
harmonic progression) - and who would want to miss out such a jolt?
It has even been suggested that Brahms should have written a D natural
to soften the blow! Just looking at the bass part below you may wonder
what I'm on about, but just try playing an Eb minor chord followed by octave Cs ...
 8. 1st Movement: Bars 273-320
Often this section receives a large slowing down to about 294 and
then a large speeding up to 320. This takes away all the tension created
by the repetitive bassline up to 289 (the fate motif), and then chromatically
ascending sequence after that. I'm not advocating a rigidly strict tempo, but
keeping a fairly steady pulse allows the music to move forwards much
more powerfully.
 9. 1st Movement: Bars 478ff
Brahms had a close friendship and working relationship with Joachim, and
Joachim was definitely amongst the school of playing in the main without vibrato.
Hence I feel a modern, constant vibrato is out of place in Brahms. However the use
of vibrato to highlight certain points is a powerful tool. So, for example, the
accents below can be achieved mainly with vibrato (it's a violin part, but would apply
equally if the part were say for the oboe).
A second point about this extract is the use of the instruction espr. In most cases it seems analagous to the later terms solo and soli. Also, Brahms use of the term is always in legato passages and I would suggest he wants the passage playing super legato.  Again we have an issue over the movement's heading Andante Sostenuto.
A tempo of say crotchet = 52 gives a feeling of the moving nature of Andante, whilst
allowing plenty of room for Sostenuto. Very often it is taken at a speed of 30 to 40,
which is surely an Adagio.
I hesitate to comment on specific matters of playing technique
(especially on an instrument which I have never played), but this is too
interesting to pass by. It is the only time Brahms asks the horns to
play a note gestopft in this work.
On a modern horn the sound produced by a normal full stopping is very nasal,
a sound which seems out of place here. A possible solution it to play a G
and to half-stop this note (i.e. place the hand some way but not all the way into the bell)
thus producing the F# (sounding A#) with a veiled and appropriate colour.
Horn players please feel free to shoot me down on this one!!
 Again the slur from the C# is a real slur. Then the chromatic notes
should be played almost slurred, without any stopping of the sound
between the notes.
 13. 2nd Movement: Bar 34-6
Brahms' use of slurs here implies phrasing. In other words the second
of each pair of semiquavers is not played through, thus producing a slightly
syncopated effect. I would also apply that to the slur over the quavers in the
second bar. In general I think that the principle of playing slurs as phrasing
marks should be employed throughout the symphony - though (of course!) there are a number
of exceptions.
 14. 2nd Movement: Bar 67
At the rather surprising recapitulation of the main theme Brahms writes
a tutti pianissimo. The violins and violas have a beautiful and melifluous line
in 3 octaves which must be especially soft or it will easily overshadow the
tune in the woodwind.
 The beautiful and serene clarinet tune which opens this movement comes
in two five-bar phrases. I would therefore not want to rush into bar 6.
Later it comes in seven-bar phrases, and the same logic would apply.
 16. 3rd Movement: 71f
In the trio section Brahms consistently writes a dotted crotchet in the repeated pattern,
but only a crotchet in the downwards arpeggio. This difference is worth observing.
 17. 3rd Movement: 156f
Just to note Brahms' love of different subdivisions of the beat - here
2 against 3. At no point do these notes sound together.
 Tempo is again an issue in this movement. One plausible solution can be
inferred from the timpani part which joins the Adagio and
Piu Andante sections. It would seem odd if the twelves in the first
bar are not the same speed as the sixes in the following bar. Hence old quaver
= new crotchet. This would make a pulse of about 72 for quavers in the Adagio, followed
by 72 for crotchets in the Piu Andante seem reasonable.
There's a fair bit more to it than I've said, but that gives us at least
a good starting place.
 19. 4th Movement: Bars 6ff
In many performances these bars are almost inaudible! Piano when applied
to pizzicato needs taking with a pinch of salt.
 20. 4th Movement: Bars 61ff
In this Beethoven 9 inspired tune there are two things to get right.
Firstly it is poco forte, not forte. And secondly phrasing is required.
Specifically the phrases (in bars) are 4 + 4 + 8. Particularly in the
eighth bar the D should resolve more softly to the C followed by a small
breath before the bottom G.
 21. 4th Movement: Bars 118f
For about a dozen bars the music is slurred from the second beat of every bar.
It should be played in that manner and not have the slurs ironed out into one
long legato phrase.
 22. 4th Movement: Bar 232
If there is any doubt that Brahms is still writing for natural horns
almost half a century after valve horns came in to being it is dispelled
here by the instruction mutano in Es - i.e. change to an Eb crook.
23. 4th Movement: Bar 334f
The F quavers at the end of the second and third bars need to be shortened.
Otherwise there won't be any impact on the sforzando.
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