| Summary: | 碩士 === 東吳大學 === 音樂學系 === 99 === Abstract
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) was a 19th century German composer and pianist. One of the leading musicians of the Romantic period, Brahms’ music was influenced by Classical musicians such as Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Owing to the personal experience of performing a few public concerts with his father, Johann Jakob Brahms (1806–1872), Brahms had personal affection toward folk music, poems and songs which were popular among the middle class. Brahms incorporated these experiences into his compositions to make his music distinguished from other traditional composers. Much of his work reflects the dramatic political and social changes in Europe of his time. Brahms composed for piano, chamber ensembles, symphony orchestra, and for voice and chorus. These works cannot be divided into different periods chronologically but were the expression of Brahms’ own heart’s anguish. Therefore, “Alto Rhapsody, Op. 53,” composed by Brahms in 1969, and a work for contralto, male chorus and orchestra, adopted three stanzas from Goethe's “Harzreise im Winter” ("Winter Journey in the Harz Mountains”) and has powerful parallels in Brahms' life revealing romantic feelings buried in his heart over 15 years. The author studied the melodic content of “Alto Rhapsody, Op. 53,” analyzing the composition method including the texture, tonal structure and harmonic motion, and the rhythmic patterns and melodic elements of the piece. For the personal uniqueness of Brahms’ “Alto Rhapsody, Op. 53,” the author provides textual illumination of the relationship between three stanzas from Goethe’s “Harzreise im Winter” and explores the harmonic and melodic motives of Brahms’ “Alto Rhapsody, Op. 53.”
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