JAVS Fall 2008

O RCHESTRAL T RAINING F ORUM B RAHMS S YMPHONY N O . 4 Robert Vernon, long-time principal violist of the Cleveland Orchestra, is currently writing a book on viola orchestral excerpts. JAVS takes a sneak-peek of his work with a few excerpts from Brahms’s Symphony No. 4, op. 98. Symphony No. 4 Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) ~ Movement II ~ by Robert Vernon

Priorities:

1.) Sound 2.) Articulations 3.) Musical direction 4.) Shape and quality of sound

Suggested tempo: eighth note = 80

Bars

Comments

All

No dots = long; dots = long with slight separation; wedges = short notes

a.) Play with musical shape and direction. b.) Play more than p. c.) Play with a full, sustained, gentle and seamless sound. d.) The shifts should be silent. e.) The dotted sixteenth note followed by a thirty-second note should be square (in time), and sustained.

64-71

Example 1. Brahms, Symphony No. 4, movt. II, mm. 64-71.

V OLUME 24 NUMBER 2 59