b - minor
Theme 1c is probably the most soaring, melodic and song-like theme of all of Brahms' writing in Movement 1. Originally heard in the cello, and then restated in the violin (at which point it starts to become slightly transitional), theme 1c's melody could not be better orchestrated than within the string section. This is the case both for the exposition and the recapitulation (which keep to the same instrumentation).
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