One of the most intriguing aspects of nineteenth-century German "absolute" music is the role played by ciphers and motto themes: that is, either ideas whose constituent notes spell out or represent words, or ideas which, though inspired initially by texts, now stand alone and give no hint of their origin. By its very nature the subject is remarkably prone to conjecture and, probably for this reason, has generally discouraged the serious investigation it deserves. My purpose here is not to offer new examples of such ideas, but rather to cast doubt on the authenticity of one of the most widely accepted of them-Brahms's motto "Frei aber froh," generally translated as "Free but happy." This is not the first challenge mounted against this motto; Henry Drinker pointed out as early as 1933 that none of Brahms's biographers had advanced it on the authority of the composer himself, or of Joachim, from whose own device, "Frei aber einsam" ("Free but lonely"), it was assumed to have evolved.1 That Drinker's remarks have had no significant influence is clear, however, from the continuing currency of the motto.2 It now seems timely to present a more extensive consideration than the fragmentary and rather dismissive remarks which he makes.3