This chapter explores register in the outer movements of the Eroica Symphony. Engaging closely with Schenker’s 1930 analysis, in which the two-line register is understood as the obligate Lage ‘obligatory register’ while the three-line octave is treated as essentially decorative or reinforcing, it argues to the contrary, asserting the structural significance of the latter. By paying particular attention to Beethoven’s scoring for the flute, it develops a narrative of registral ‘failure’ in the finale that is in stark contrast to the standard ‘heroic’ readings of this work.

Within a decade of Brahms’s compositions first appearing in print, supporters and proponents began subjecting his music to analysis. From that time onward, commentators across the centuries have continued to scrutinise his compositions, exploring both structural elements (motifs, harmonies, counterpoint, rhythm and form) and the relationship between structure and meaning. Over time, the theoretical frameworks behind these analyses have changed, as have the broader aesthetic and scholarly environments [see Ch. 16 ‘Genre’]. Nevertheless, the origins of some of the more influential analytical approaches can be traced back to Brahms’s contemporaries. This essay will focus on the work emanating from three of the most influential theoretical schools, those inspired by Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951), Heinrich Schenker (1868–1935) and Hugo Riemann (1849–1919).

The reception of Brahms’s music beyond his home city of Hamburg began in 1853, when the young composer made his first extended journey and presented his compositions to some of the leading figures of German contemporary music: Robert Schumann, Robert Franz and Franz Liszt. Each reacted to these unpublished works in distinctive ways.

Robert Schumann, with whom Brahms spent the whole month of October in Düsseldorf,was instantly enthralled.