“In the early music of Brahms, there are passages of an overwhelming tenderness, such as could only be expressed by one who was deprived of tenderness.” –Theodor Adorno The 16 Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 9 is an almost unique work in Brahms’s output. Julian Littlewood notes that it “was the product of exceptional biographical circumstances, and is one of the most unguarded, personal statements he ever made.” Brahms was a youthful 20 when he first met Robert and Clara Schumann. The young musician was passing through Leipzig and had been encouraged by his friend Joseph Joachim to introduce himself to the Schumanns—at first hesitant, Brahms finally summoned the courage and knocked on the Schumanns’ door. It was after this meeting that Robert Schumann hailed the young Brahms in his Neue Zeitschrift article “New Paths” as the messiah of the future of music, “spring(ing) fully formed, like Minerva, from the head of Zeus…” Brahms immediately became fast friends with both the Schumanns. It was then a shock when, only months later, Robert (whose mental state was fast declining) attempted suicide by throwing himself into the Rhine river—Brahms, upon hearing the news, rushed from his family’s home in Hamburg to Leipzig, and there he remained with (pregnant) Clara and the 6 young Schumann children, babysitting, playing music, visiting Robert and trying to help in any way possible. It seems that during this time Brahms developed a deep attachment to Clara, writing to his friend Joseph Joachim “I often have to restrain myself forcibly from just quietly putting my arm around her and even—I don’t know, it seems to me so natural that she could not misunderstand,” and more significantly, “I think I can no longer love an unmarried girl—at least, I have completely forgotten them; they only promise the skies, whereas Clara shows it to us open…” At the same time, Brahms cared deeply about Robert, and for two years was a go-between for the married couple—this great devotion resulted in Brahms becoming the godfather to the Schumann’s last child, Felix, whom Robert never saw. Among others, Peter Ostwald, a psychiatrist and author, has noted the incredible emotional difficulty this situation must have created for the young Brahms. In this complicated milieu Brahms wrote the Op. 9 Variations. This work was meant as a comfort to Clara, and on the manuscript Brahms wrote: “Variations on a theme by Him, Dedicated to Her.” The influence of both Robert and Clara is palpable throughout; the theme itself contains Clara’s name in a musical cypher, and Brahms nestles a very special melody into the ending textures of the 10th variation (from Clara’s own Romance Varié for piano, Op. 3). The 9th Variation is a clear homage to Robert’s 5th Bunte Blätter, Op.99, and there are many more internal details which seem to reflect both Robert and Clara Schumann’s music. But Brahms’s young voice is always present, and as a set of variations, this work is remarkable. A favourite “variation” device, the canon, makes an appearance here, at intervals of the octave (hidden in the accompaniment of variation 8), the 2nd (variation 14), and the 6th (variation 15). The contrapuntal procedures of the 10th variation are somewhat astounding, and include inverted canon and thematic diminution. Topical interest is interwoven with Brahms’s counterpoint; among some of those found are clearly Lied-like variations (variations 3, 4, 8, and 10), Baroque stylizations (variation 14), “Hungarian” inflections (variation 4), instrumental fantasies (variation 5), and virtuosic whirlwinds (variations 6 and 13). But in the end what is most affecting about this score is that it crystallizes something beautiful and hopeful which is worlds away from the regret and resignation of Brahms’s last works for piano. This is found in the last two variations: the 15th, penultimate variation opens with a key change to G-flat major (the ultimate transformation would be to F-sharp major), and with its warm, rippling texture enfolding a canon at the sixth, seems ready to dissipate all the tension which has preceded, but this does not happen fully until the last variation, which is in a profoundly peaceful F-sharp major. Those familiar with Robert's famous F-sharp minor piano sonata (dedicated to Clara) will recall its identical key transformation which stems from joy and boundless happiness; here Brahms gives an ending of hope—something which, for all the personal tragedy surrounding this set of variations, is deeply moving. The music is peaceful, carrying the spirit of Schumann's theme to a completely different world of release. The hopeful ending here remained unparalleled in reality; Robert did not recover, and Clara only saw her husband again two years later, just before his death at the age of 46.

• published: 06 Apr 2018
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