Johannes Brahms

In the history of Western music, we often refer to the “Three B’s” – Bach, Beethoven and Brahms.  These three artistic giants respectively dominated the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, and the corresponding Baroque, Classical and Romantic eras that defined them – or perhaps we should say that they defined these somewhat arbitrary eras.

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Brahms worshipped Beethoven and his legacy.  Some critics have argued that Brahms tried to be a later version of Beethoven.  He even delayed the completion and publishing of his 1st Symphony until he was 43 years old, by then deeming himself hopefully worthy enough to follow in the great Beethoven’s footsteps. While Brahms is clearly identified as a Romanticist, he was always a classicist at heart and stuck to the established patterns and formats such as Symphonies, Quartets and Concertos.  It’s just that he expanded the emotional breadth of these forms.

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Brahms contributed a substantial body of work to the piano literature in large and small forms.  His piano writing is characterised by rich harmonies, dense textures and wide spacings – he often seems to swallow up the whole keyboard at once. He wrote many short pieces with generic names like Ballade, Rhapsody, Capriccio and Intermezzo. The latter I find curious. An Intermezzo would imply by its name that it should exist “in between” something else before and after.  However Brahms wrote many Intermezzi and they all seem to exist on their own, even if included in a set of other pieces within a given Opus number.

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Intermezzo in B minor Op 119 No. 1

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This is Brahms at perhaps his most understated. The transparent and haunting opening theme with its chains of descending thirds is somewhat un-Brahms-like to start with, perhaps even a portent of the Impressionistic style of Debussy.  However, the middle section in the relative key of D major gradually reminds us that this must be Brahms after all – as the texture grows and the passion intensifies.  However the return of the opening theme and the quiet, introspective ending calms everything down again.  This is an amazing miniature – one of Brahms’ shortest pieces, but one that is highly emotionally charged and ethereal.  I love this piece and each time I play it I tend to find new depths in it.

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Intermezzo in A major Opus 118 No. 2

This is understandably one of Brahms’ most famous short pieces.  Unlike the B Minor Intermezzo described above, this piece is clearly written by Brahms right from the outset.  The expansive main theme with its wide spacings and rich chordal texture epitomises the mood of the Romantic era – human emotion and love expressing itself in music, sometimes with a heart on a sleeve.  However, this piece does not become overly sentimental.  Brahms intensifies the deepest feelings in this piece with the turbulent middle section punctuated by a slow, hymn-like interlude that seems to bring time to a brief halt.  However, that fleeting pause gives way again to passion, followed by a return to the love song that commenced the piece. Again, like the B Minor Intermezzo, as a pianist I find it impossible to play this piece the same way twice.  Each performance finds new moments to savour and express.  This is a piano writing masterpiece in the short form.