Johannes Brahms was influenced by the works of Beethoven and also his contemporaries.
Here are two works – an earlier Piano Quartet in G minor (which Schoenberg liked enough to orchestrate in 1937), and a more in depth focus on his Cello Sonata in E minor Op.38 from 1865.
Notice in the first movement of the Piano Quartet how he uses three themes: the 1st subject is an angular disjunct melody which he will use in fragment; the 2nd subject is a lyrical mostly conjunct melody in the ‘cello, and the codetta material is a jolly Bohemian dance style (notice the alternating open fifths in the piano left hand and the cello):
The Cello Sonata in Eminor (the first of two) was composed between 1862 and 1865. This was an important time in his life – he had moved to Vienna, become conductor of the Wiener Singakademie, first met Wagner (which unlike later years went well), and in February 1865 his mother died, leading to the composition of his German Requiem.
Here follows an annotated score of the first movement, the themes of which are almost entirely based on the opening ‘cello motif – the triad, and the rising/falling semitone.
