Magical Joy of Piano Fourhands Preview | Brahms at the Piano
Hello and welcome back to our email preview series! As a way to prepare for the upcoming concert, Magical Joy of Piano Fourhands, we are diving into the world of piano music across the composers that will be represented in the concerts in November! While you’re here, don’t forget to RSVP– we sold out our last concerts 😜
Brahms at the Piano
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) was a German composer who produced a large and diverse œuvre (over 120 opus works and numerous uncategorized works) during the classical romantic period. Born into a musical family, he began music lessons with his father but quickly graduated to formal lessons by the age of seven. By the age of 14, he performed at inns and even gave recitals.
It wasn’t until his adulthood that he was able to truly connect with other musicians and composers of his caliber; in 1853, he met a famous violinist, Joseph Joachim who quickly introduced him to his own friends, Robert and Clara Schumann. As we have explored, Robert and Clara were very connected to the greatest musicians of their time and thus provided a platform for young Johannes to spread his own wings.
Despite his humble beginnings, Brahms went on to become well established, often crossing paths with many other infamous contemporaries like Anton Bruckner, Richard Wagner, Antonin Dvorak, and a young Gustav Mahler.
In total, Brahms composed four symphonies, four concertos, and a few other symphonic works. However, I argue that the “gem” of his works lie in his chamber music (typical me). For today’s listening, we will explore a couple of my favorite more intimate works Brahms created for the piano.
Guided Listening | Intermezzo in A Major Op. 118 No. 2
This beautiful piece for solo piano is in three parts– ABA1.
The opening pattern is a loaded question– the musical motif has been used by a few other composers to communicate a yearning question– for Mendelssohn it was “Is it true?” (String Quartet No. 2), and Beethoven, “Must it Be?” (String Quartet No. 16).
This upward reaching motif is used as the central grounding force in this first section, the music often circles around and repeats this phrase in different harmonic settings.
Likewise, the dotted rhythm that follows (to me) sounds like a fluttering heartbeat, waiting in anticipation for the answer:
The answer, to the right, is the inversion (upside down) of the original question, which many scholars have interpreted as Brahms answering, “Yes, it’s true” or “It must be”. The end of this segment is wrapped up in a Perfect Authentic Cadence, giving it a firm sense of finality and reassurance… EXCEPT for an overhanging note at the end which leads us into the next section [B].
The B section is much more tumultuous - while the introductory motif had a tinge of yearning and unrest, this new section is completely wrapped up in it. One way this is shown is through the undulating left hand, never resting and often rhythmically contrasting the movement in the right hand (the left hand has triplets while the left hand has duples). The other thing you can listen for is the movement of the right hand. The eighth note arpeggios seemingly burst from nowhere, (to me) feeling like an emotional outburst, as if the preceding notes were attempting to hold them back.
We get a brief reprieve from this inner storm where there is a light, chorale section, however the storm returns to sweep us into the last section which reprises the original “Must it Be”.
Hear our friend, Daniel Anastasio give his own Insights here:
Further Listening | Violin Sonata in A Major Op. 100
For more of a sense of Brahms’ style in chamber music, I present his second Violin Sonata in A major. All three of his violin sonatas are very intimate and reserved in comparison with his symphonic and larger chamber works. Out of these, I would say this one has the most dialogue between the violin and piano. As you listen to it, try to listen to the conversational nature between the instruments– AKA when one instrument will introduce an idea and the other will copy and/or modify it.
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