Brahms "Nullte" Symphony

[Mark Thomas]

I've come across this on YouTube, which purports to be a digital realisation of the first movement of a lost early B flat minor symphony by Brahms. I can find no reference elsewhere on the internet to this "sensational discovery", so presumably it's some sort of hoax. Does anyone know anything about it?

[Ilja]

To my knowledge Albis Music is Walter Zielke's publishing firm/YT channel. That might mean he's preparing it for a performance.

Sounds like a solid piece (after a first listen), but am I the only one to hear familiar elements (such as that accellerando in the coda)? I haven't pinned them down yet, though.

[John Boyer]

It does have hoax written all over it.  And certain AI apps can compose what you want in the style you want at the press of a button, so you don't even need to put much effort into it.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Walter Zielke is a serious musician and a specialist on a number of unsung composers, particularly Thieriot, so I doubt it is hoax if Zielke is the source.

[Mark Thomas]

Fair enough, but it's surprising therefore that nothing else has surfaced online about this, quite major, discovery.

[Alan Howe]

It's a puzzle, isn't it? It certainly sounds rather fragmentary and 'questing' in Brahms' early Sturm und Drang style, but the lack of detailed provenance makes me highly suspicious. If this isn't a hoax, I want chapter and verse, please.

This is the video description:

A century-old secret revealed. A lost masterpiece – finally heard.

What had been rumoured among musicologists for decades has now become a breathtaking reality: The first movement of a previously unknown symphony by Johannes Brahms, composed in the unusual key of Bb-minor, has reappeared in an inconspicuous cardboard box from an estate in Vienna – among yellowed letters, discarded sketches and a cup that Brahms himself may never have washed.

 'I have begun a symphony that frightens me.'
– Johannes Brahms, letter (allegedly to Clara Schumann, 1855)

This work bears all the hallmarks of the internally torn, deeply romantic sound world of the young Brahms – and yet it already hints at the orchestral power of his later symphonies. Dramatic tutti passages, sombre pathos, a theme of shattering power and tenderness – as if Beethoven had found a lost brother in the spirit of the North.

What do we hear here?
•    A calm, mysterious theme that emerges from the depths – like a shadow from Brahms' soul.
•    Orchestral colourfulness reminiscent of his later works, but with the radicalism of a composer who is still hesitant to reveal himself.

Historical context: In letters to Clara Schumann, Brahms complained about a symphonic project that was 'too big for my abilities'. For a long time, it was believed that these sketches had been incorporated into his First Piano Concerto – but now newly discovered manuscripts reveal that a fully developed first movement in Bb-minor existed – and remained hidden for over 150 years.

Now audible for the first time – with a virtual orchestral sound (Noteperformer 4.4, NPPE, Nucleus and VSL-Sample-Librarys).

Will this work change our view of Brahms?
Was his 'first' symphony perhaps not the first at all?
And what if he was never able to completely detach himself from this B minor symphony?

Discovered. Dusted off. Unveiled. Music history is being rewritten – with every note.

[eschiss1]

"'I have begun a symphony that frightens me.'" is, I seem to recall, a real Brahms quote, but it's about his 2nd symphony and from 1877, which he used to joke would be a very serious, tragic thing (and the first movement is a good deal more serious than some make it out to be, especially given that some make it out to be fluff.)

[Alan Howe]

Until we have more details about provenance, I'm treating this as a hoax. Perhaps it's by Hans Franke, whoever he was...

[tpaloj]

It's disheartening when serious scholars have to resort to needless sensationalism to get their point across (I'm referring to the video description posted by Alan). I understand the purpose of discretion while preparing an edition, but with this video released, I don't see the point of holding back the info and sources.

[Gareth Vaughan]

I agree. It doesn't read like a serious piece of research. Like Alan, I am suspicious - and Herr Zielke is doing himself no favours if this is genuine.

[Alan Howe]

The first movement of a previously unknown symphony by Johannes Brahms, composed in the unusual key of Bb-minor, has reappeared in an inconspicuous cardboard box from an estate in Vienna – among yellowed letters, discarded sketches and a cup that Brahms himself may never have washed.

Are we supposed to take this seriously? Has the website involved been hacked?

[John Boyer]

It reads like an April Fools joke.  (I checked to see if there is some sort of August 5 prank tradition, but no hits there.)

No, I suspect it's a prank to see who will take the bait.  Perhaps we can expect a punchline soon.

[Ilja]

I don't think it's a prank (Zielke promises more information soon), but the presentation - both the lack of provenance and the purple prose in the description - is rather off-putting.

[Mark Thomas]

I see he's replied to Alan's query on the YouTube post itself with "The details can only be published in a few weeks' time. Not on YouTube, of course", which begs the question why, if it's a genuine discovery, he posted this realisation on YT before the official announcement. It's all very odd.

[tpaloj]

Yeah, it's a strange way to go about things. Let's hope the details include publicly available scans of this manuscript, at the very least.