{"id":67515,"date":"2020-03-17T14:15:06","date_gmt":"2020-03-17T18:15:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=67515"},"modified":"2020-03-17T14:15:06","modified_gmt":"2020-03-17T18:15:06","slug":"feature-b-c-h-glazunovs-dog-brahms-lost-loves-look-music-cryptography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2020\/03\/17\/feature-b-c-h-glazunovs-dog-brahms-lost-loves-look-music-cryptography\/","title":{"rendered":"FEATURE | B-A-C-H, Glazunov\u2019s Dog, And Brahms\u2019 Lost Loves \u2014 A Look At Music Cryptography"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sheet
Sheet music (Photo: wal_172619 from Pixabay)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

B<\/span>rahms used it to exorcise himself of his failed loves, while many composers simply spelled out their own names. They represent examples of what is called musical cryptography<\/strong> or a music cryptogram<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Musical cryptography is the use of music to encode messages. In its simplest form, the letters A through G can be used to spell out words or codes.<\/p>\n

Most students of classical music are familiar with the B-A-C-H sequence to be found in J.S. Bach\u2019s work. H is the equivalent of a B-natural in the German system of music cryptography, allowing Bach to spell out his name quite easily. It\u2019s a motif that he incorporated into several pieces, including The Art of the Fugue<\/em>. While Bach is perhaps its most famous user, music cryptography was fairly common, largely in the Classical and Romantic periods.<\/p>\n

Music cryptography had its proponents in the 17th- and 18th-century, chiefly mathematicians. Composer Michael Haydn, brother of Franz Josef, allegedly proposed a musical cipher system that was published in a biography of his brother in 1808. In his system, the alphabet begins at the G on the bass clef as A, then G-sharp as B, and so on.<\/p>\n

\"B-A-C-H
B-A-C-H motif (public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

K<\/span>nowing a little about the life of Johannes Brahms makes it easy to believe he might choose musical cryptography as a way of expressing himself.<\/p>\n

Famously, Brahms and Clara Schumann fell in love, and Clara was finally free to pursue a relationship with him after the decline and tragic death of husband Robert at 46. But, Brahms kept his distance, and made it clear that, despite his feelings for her, he would never marry her.<\/p>\n

Their relationship was over by 1856, just before he met Agathe von Siebold, his second great love. Agathe was a soprano who was taking lessons from his friend Julius Otto Grimm. Clara actually caught the two of them canoodling in September 1858. \u201cHe left me alone with words of love and devotion, and now he falls for this girl because she has a pretty voice,\u201d she complained in a letter<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

However, even though Brahms proposed marriage at first, the relationship was doomed after his Piano Concerto No.1 D minor<\/em> tanked at its premiere. He was worried about being able to provide for a wife, and called the wedding off in January 1859.<\/p>\n

In the summer of 1864, Brahms heard that Agathe had left Germany for Ireland to work as a governess. His next composition, already in progress, was his String Sextet No. 2 in G major<\/em>. In the climax of the first movement, bars 162 to 168, he refers to his lost love with a theme that goes A-G-A-H-E.<\/p>\n

In a different sort of cipher, he also incorporated a melody that he had first written in a letter to Clara Schumann years earlier. The theme opens the first movement, and is present throughout the composition. Brahms wrote about the composition in a letter to his friend Josef G\u00e4nsbacher, \u201cby this work, I have freed myself of my last love.\u201d<\/p>\n

Agathe later wrote about the relationship in a novel. She eventually married and by all accounts happily, although she always admitted to carrying a torch for Johannes, while for Brahms, love remained something idealized but not lived. Though he remained unmarried, Brahms retained his penchant for musical codes, referring to Adele Strauss by the notes A\u2013Eb (A.S.) and to Gisela von Arnim, a writer known for her fairy tales, with the notes G#\u2013E\u2013A (Gis-e-la) in his letters.<\/p>\n

Brahms: String Sextet No. 2, Op. 36<\/em>; Harriet Krijgh & Friends \u2014 Live HD<\/p>\n