Brahms's Third Symphony in popular culture

Last updated June 16, 2024

The Third Symphony of Johannes Brahms has been popular since its premiere in 1883 and has been widely adapted in works of popular culture. The quotations predominantly are of the moody theme of the third movement.

Symphony No. 3 in F major Op. 90 - III. Poco allegretto (6:10)

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The following list is organized chronologically.

In the 1946 film noir Undercurrent , starring Katharine Hepburn, the third-movement theme appears both in the opening credits and in multiple scenes.^[1]
The 1951 song "Take My Love" recorded and co-written by Frank Sinatra also uses the third-movement theme. Of the work, Kaplan writes, '"Take My Love," which turned a perfectly honest theme from Brahms's Third Symphony into an outright weeper, sold like the dog it was.'^[2]
In the 1952 film noir "Angel Face" (dir. Otto Preminger, produced by Howard Hughes, starring Jean Simmons and Robert Mitchum). Dimitri Tiomkin's score incorporated Brahms's 3rd movement as the main theme.
In the 1961 film Goodbye Again (also known as Aimez-vous Brahms?), starring Ingrid Bergman, the third movement theme is heard repeatedly, including as the tune of a song ("Say No More, It's Goodbye") sung by the night club singer (Diahann Carroll). A reviewer for the Illustrated London News wrote, "it insistently vulgarises and cheapens a theme from Brahms's Third Symphony".^[3]
The song "You'll love me yet" (track B3) on the studio album ′′Bach to the Blues′′ (1964) by the Ramsey Lewis Trio is a Jazz adaptation of the third movement.
In the show Fawlty Towers (1975-1979), Basil Fawlty, when accused by his wife of "listening to that racket", famously responds "Racket!? That's Brahms! Brahms's third racket!"^[4]
In 1983 Serge Gainsbourg wrote Baby Alone in Babylone for his ex-partner singer Jane Birkin, adopting Brahms's third movement theme as the main theme.
Robert Palmer album Pride 1983, ″Want You More″ melody line is from Brahms third movement.
In the 1987 film The Rosary Murders , the end credits music is an adaptation of the third movement. The song is titled "In Your Eyes" sung by Nancy Wood.^[5]
In 1991, Branford Marsalis paraphrased the main theme in the title track of his album The Beautyful Ones Not Yet Born, based on the novel by Ghanaian writer Ayi Kwei Armah.
In 1995, the popular anime Legend of the Galactic Heroes featured the third movement 'Poco Allegretto' in episode 83 ("After the festival") and in episode 94 ('Rebellion is a Hero's Privilege').
In the song When She's Gone by Eric XL Singleton Ft. Sinclair & Wilde (1997) the theme from the symphony was used in the refrain.
Carlos Santana used the third-movement theme in his song "Love of My Life," (Ft. Dave Matthews), from the album Supernatural (1999), although he does not credit Brahms.
In the 2003 Hong Kong crime film Infernal Affairs II, the third-movement theme was used in the ending scene, which shows the crowd toasting to Hon Sam during the Hong Kong handover.
The 2005 film Factotum (based on the novel by Charles Bukowski) uses the symphony as part of the soundtrack.^[6]
The 2005 computer game Civilization IV uses the symphony as part of the soundtrack for the Industrial Age. See Music in the Civilization video game series.
In 2007 the third-movement theme was used in the introduction of Stevie Wonder's "Part-Time Lover" music video as background music in a television playing Back Street (1961 film).
In 2010 French film "Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life"
In 2011 French film "The Art of Love" it was used as the main title music
In 2012 a theme from the symphony was used by the Russian gymnast Anastasia Grishina as her floor music at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
In the 2013 film Kill Your Darlings , the third movement theme is used three times: twice in original full orchestra scoring and once in piano transcription. The second instance is used as source music: Lucien Carr is playing it on a record player in his Columbia dorm room, and Allen Ginsberg hearing it from his own room goes to track it down.^[7]
The main musical theme of the "Liquidation Series" (2007) is partially borrowed from the 3rd movement of the Symphony — Poco allegretto (this was noted at the Russian Silver Galosha Award-2009, in the nomination "For Plagiarism of the Year"

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johannes Brahms</span> German composer and pianist (1833–1897)

Johannes Brahms was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven as one of the "Three Bs" of music, a comment originally made by the nineteenth-century conductor Hans von Bülow.

The Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43, is a concertante work written by Sergei Rachmaninoff for piano and orchestra, closely resembling a piano concerto, all in a single movement. Rachmaninoff wrote the work at his summer home, the Villa Senar in Switzerland, according to the score, from 3 July to 18 August 1934. Rachmaninoff himself, a noted performer of his own works, played the piano part at the piece's premiere on 7 November 1934, at the Lyric Opera House in Baltimore, Maryland, with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski.

The Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92, is a symphony in four movements composed by Ludwig van Beethoven between 1811 and 1812, while improving his health in the Bohemian spa town of Teplitz. The work is dedicated to Count Moritz von Fries.

The Piano Concerto No. 2 in B♭ major, Op. 83, by Johannes Brahms is separated by a gap of 22 years from his first piano concerto. Brahms began work on the piece in 1878 and completed it in 1881 while in Pressbaum near Vienna. It took him three years to work on this concerto, which indicates that he was always self-critical. He wrote to Clara Schumann: "I want to tell you that I have written a very small piano concerto with a very small and pretty scherzo." Ironically, he was describing a huge piece. This concerto is dedicated to his teacher, Eduard Marxsen. The public premiere of the concerto was given in Budapest on 9 November 1881, with Brahms as soloist and the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra, and was an immediate success. He proceeded to perform the piece in many cities across Europe.

The Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn, now also called the Saint Anthony Variations, is a work in the form of a theme and variations, composed by Johannes Brahms in the summer of 1873 at Tutzing in Bavaria. It consists of a theme in B♭ major based on a "Chorale St Antoni", eight variations, and a finale. The work was published in two versions: for two pianos, written first but designated Op. 56b; and for orchestra, designated Op. 56a.

The Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88, B. 163, is a symphony by Antonín Dvořák, composed in 1889 at Vysoká u Příbramě, Bohemia, on the occasion of his election to the Bohemian Academy of Science, Literature and Arts. Dvořák conducted the premiere in Prague on 2 February 1890. In contrast to other symphonies of both the composer and the period, the music is cheerful and optimistic. It was originally published as Symphony No. 4.

The Hungarian Dances by Johannes Brahms (WoO 1), are a set of 21 lively dance tunes based mostly on Hungarian themes, completed in 1879. They vary from about a minute to five minutes in length. They are among Brahms's most popular works and were the most profitable for him. Each dance has been arranged for a wide variety of instruments and ensembles. Brahms originally wrote the version for piano four hands and later arranged the first ten dances for solo piano.

Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90, is a symphony by Johannes Brahms. The work was written in the summer of 1883 at Wiesbaden, nearly six years after he completed his Symphony No. 2. In the interim Brahms had written some of his greatest works, including the Violin Concerto, two overtures, and Piano Concerto No. 2.

Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73, was composed by Johannes Brahms in the summer of 1877, during a visit to Pörtschach am Wörthersee, a town in the Austrian province of Carinthia. Its composition was brief in comparison with the 21 years it took Brahms to complete his First Symphony.

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<i>Baby Alone in Babylone</i> 1983 studio album by Jane Birkin

Baby Alone in Babylone is an album by Jane Birkin. The album was released in 1983 and was the first collaboration between Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg since their split. Michelle de Rouville was credited for the photography.

<i>Goodbye Again</i> (1961 film) 1961 film by Anatole Litvak

Goodbye Again is a 1961 American-French romantic drama film produced and directed by Anatole Litvak. The screenplay was written by Samuel A. Taylor, based on the novel Aimez-vous Brahms? by Françoise Sagan. The film, released by United Artists, stars Ingrid Bergman, Anthony Perkins, Yves Montand, and Jessie Royce Landis.

Rustic Wedding Symphony, Op. 26 is a symphony in E-flat major by Karl Goldmark, written in 1875, a year before his renowned Violin Concerto No. 1. The symphony was premiered in Vienna on 5 March 1876, conducted by Hans Richter. Johannes Brahms, who was a frequent walking companion of Goldmark's, and whose own Symphony No. 1 was not premiered until November 1876, told him "That is the best thing you have done; clear-cut and faultless, it sprang into being a finished thing, like Minerva from the head of Jupiter". Its first American performance was at a New York Philharmonic Society concert, conducted by Theodore Thomas on 13 January 1877.

The Symphonic Variations, M. 46, is a work for piano and orchestra written in 1885 by César Franck. It has been described as "one of Franck's tightest and most finished works", "a superb blending of piano and orchestra", and "a flawless work and as near perfection as a human composer can hope to get in a work of this nature". It is a fine example of Franck's use of cyclic unity, with one theme growing into various others. The piano and orchestra share equally in the development of ideas. The work is in F♯ minor. Duration in performance is about fifteen minutes, and the instrumentation is piano solo and orchestra: pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons; four horns; two trumpets; timpani; and strings.

The String Sextet No. 1 in B♭ major, Op. 18, was composed in 1860 by Johannes Brahms and premiered 20 October that year in Hanover by an ensemble led by Joseph Joachim. It was published in 1862 by the firm of Fritz Simrock.

The String Quartet No. 3 in B♭ major, Op. 67, was composed by Johannes Brahms in the summer of 1875 and published by the firm of Fritz Simrock. It received its premiere performance on October 30, 1876 in Berlin. It has four movements:

String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111, is a work by Johannes Brahms composed in 1890 and published in 1891. It is known as the Prater Quintet. Brahms intended it to be his last piece of music, though he later produced a number of piano pieces and the two sonatas for clarinet or viola and piano. The first performance of the Quintet in Vienna on November 11, 1890 was a sensation.

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References

↑ Anon. (1947)
↑ Kaplan (2011:472)
↑ Illustrated London News Volume 239, Issue 1, p. 464.
↑ Epstein (2014:22)
↑ IMDb: .
↑ See IMDb: .
↑ Soundtrack.net: .

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[1] Anon. (1947)

[2] Kaplan (2011:472)

[3] Illustrated London News Volume 239, Issue 1, p. 464.

[4] Epstein (2014:22)

[5] IMDb: .

[6] See IMDb: .

[7] Soundtrack.net: .

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