John Dalmas on Brahms' First:

>Yes, and I still shake my head when those timpani start throbbing, even
>though I was told years ago that Brahms had witten the Allegro years before
>he tacked on the pretentious Introduction, called by one critic "the
>grandest, most profoundly moving and overwhelming passages in all the
>symphonic literature." Phew!  And by another, less kindly but perhaps more
>perceptive, "the heavy tramp of Beethoven's feet behind him." So much for
>hearing it all in your head as one completely realized piece of music
>before writing it down.

I do love the introduction, but I don't care so much about the rest of the
symphony.  The last movement is good, but in the end it's too much An die
Freude for me.

Mikael Rasmusson