Bass-line articulations of the Urlinie

Abstract

One of the poignant moments in Brahms's Intermezzo in A major, Op. 118, No. 2, is the return of the opening theme in inversion (bars 34ff.). The distinctive features of the theme – the double-neighbor pattern and skip of a seventh – are instantly recognizable, despite the changes in their tonal meaning. Even before this point, however, there are several intimations of the opening theme. In bars 30–34 there is a fourfold statement of the initial upbeat figure in the bass. Furthermore, in bar 29 the melodic contour of the top voice is exactly the same as in bar 1. Although this bar is not preceded by a literal repetition of the two-note upbeat (c# 2 –b 1 ) that begins the piece, the reiterated statements of the upbeat figure in the bass over the course of bars 30–34 would seem to compensate for its omission. The d 2 in bar 29 is preceded by an ascending chromatic line originating from g# 1 in bar 25, and a dominant pedal appears in the bass in bars 25–29. In bar 28, where c# 2 in the melodic line descends a third to a 1 , Brahms's notation is significant: the a 1 at the end of bar 28 is tied into the next bar where it appears beneath d 2 at the beginning of bar 29.

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