Passacaglia, Cantabile and Fugue on "Brahms" - (2009) ![](images/01_Little_Green_Dot.gif)
for piano
for Susanne Paasch
My friend and colleague, Susanne, sent me a ticket for a concert performance of Johannes Brahms' Requiem, paired with a new work by Carsten Borkowski based on a cipher of the name Brahms. That cipher based on German with the inclusion of a Greek letter is B-Re-A-H-Σ-Es (the German B as B-flat, Re as D natural, the German system's H as B-flat, the Sigma as a sideways "M" interpreted as E natural, and the German Es as E flat). Borkowski's notes state that "Brahms gave us a gift via his name." In fact, many different ciphers can be created, and interpreted as tonal rows in a serial method or simply as a cantus firmus in more traditional methods. The programs notes which Susanne sent along in the post amused me, for I have occasionally used my own cipher, simpler than the above and based in part on a historical lineage with Maurice Duruflés extension of the original note name cipher as found in some of his organ works. My cipher which I used in my suite, The Jerusalem Windows for organ, and other works is as follows:
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For this, the name Brahms is interpreted by this cipher as B flat, a second B flat, A, B natural, E and C. That becomes, with small ornamentation, the bass line of a thema, and then theme of the passacaglia in triple meter.
![](images_2/Brahms_1.gif)
The passacaglia as with the theme itself, cadences on C with a ritardando. Thereafter an ornamental cantabile in duple meter follows.
![](images_2/Brahms_2.gif)
Again comes a cadence on C. Thereafter the fugue takes up the theme in a 6/8 meter, jaunty and enthusiastic, extending the repetitions of the theme's notes to create this subject.
![](images_2/Brahms_3.gif)
The fugue subject appears in a variety of tonal domains, with interludes for variety, and the final statement of the theme is the subject elongated over a quote from the opening counterpoint of the passacaglia. The final cadence implies the normal harmonic resolution of a theme which moves from B flat to C to F, unstated previously, but with the final note of the theme as the bottom note of this inverted major seven chord.
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[ 5 pages, circa 4' 25"]
The entire work is here,
, an MP3 file [ 4.2 MB, 4' 25" ]
The score is available as a free PDF download, though any major commercial performance or recording of the work is prohibited without prior arrangement with the composer. Click on the graphic below for this piano score.
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Passacaglia, Cantabile and Fugue on "Brahms"
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