Name: Ng En Hooi Matric No.

: 155658 Course Name: Performance Practice Course Code: MZK 3203 Title: Johannes Brahms Intermezzo Op118 No. 2 in A Major Introduction Johannes Brahms (7 May 1833 3 April 1897) was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene. In his lifetime, Brahms's popularity and influence were considerable; following a comment by the nineteenth-century conductor Hans von Blow, he is sometimes grouped with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven as one of the Three Bs. Brahms composed for piano, chamber ensembles, symphony orchestra, and for voice and chorus. A virtuoso pianist, he premiered many of his own works; he also worked with some of the leading performers of his time, including the pianist Clara Schumann and the violinist Joseph Joachim. Many of his works have become staples of the modern concert repertoire. Brahms, an uncompromising perfectionist, destroyed many of his works and left some of them unpublished. Brahms is often considered both a traditionalist and an innovator. His music is firmly rooted in the structures and compositional techniques of the Baroque and Classical masters. He was a master of counterpoint, the complex and highly disciplined method of composition for which Johann Sebastian Bach is famous, and also of development, a compositional ethos pioneered by Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Brahms aimed to honor the "purity" of these venerable "German" structures and advance them into a Romantic idiom, in the process creating bold new approaches to harmony, melody and, especially rhythm. While many contemporaries found his music too academic, his contribution and craftsmanship have been admired by subsequent figures as diverse as the progressive Arnold Schoenberg and the conservative Edward Elgar. The diligent, highly constructed nature of Brahms's works was a starting point and an inspiration for a generation of composers.

Intermezzo Intermezzo Op 118 no. 2 in A major is one of the works in the Six Pieces for Piano Op 118 which are the most beloved items that Johannes Brahms wrote for the solo instrument. Completed in 1893 and dedicated to Clara Schumann, the collection was the second to last composition to be published during Brahms' lifetime. It was also his second to last work composed for piano solo. Like Brahms' other late keyboard works, Op. 118 is overall more introspective than his earlier piano pieces, which tend to be more virtuosic in character. The six pieces are:

No. 1. Intermezzo in A minor. Allegro non assai, ma molto appassionato No. 2. Intermezzo in A major. Andante teneramente No. 3. Ballade in G minor. Allegro energico No. 4. Intermezzo in F minor. Allegretto un poco agitato No. 5. Romance in F major. Andante No. 6. Intermezzo in E flat minor. Andante, largo e mesto

Each Brahms Intermezzo has a peaceful tenderness, reflecting the composer's late-life introspection. The 18 short intermezzi are some of the very last solo piano pieces Brahms ever wrote. An intermezzo was historically a piece that goes in the middle of two others things like the acts of an opera or a big musical suite. It's essentially a divider. But Brahms's are different. First of all, they weren't created connect other things together. They're mostly independent pieces which are part of collections of works for solo piano. Secondly, they're more like character pieces, each with a different identity and exploring a single idea. They have a huge range of different emotions and shades of color and a feeling of intellectual maturity. I would almost call them musical poems! Actually, Brahms used the term 'intermezzo' quite freely. He called most of his late pieces which weren't passionate or flighty an intermezzo for the sake of convenience. Still, the pieces are a massive testament to Brahms's supreme composing ability. He manages to make the intermezzi easy to understand and enjoy, but also have enough subtlety and complexity for music theorists to chew on. Brahms wrote 18 intermezzi in total, spread out across various collections of solo piano music. There are groups of intermezzos in the following collections of solo piano music in Brahms's output:

Op. 76, 8 piano pieces (1878) Op. 116, 7 fantasies (1892) Op. 117, 3 intermezzos (1892) Op. 118, 6 piano pieces (1893) Op. 119, 4 piano pieces (1893)

Intermezzo in A Major, Andante teneramente The word Andante means at a moderate pace or in a walking pace while Teneramente is meaning tenderly. Hence, the Brahms intermezzo is Op. 118 No. 2. It's a sweetly melancholy piece, with a strong tinge of melancholy. It is a composite ternary form which is ABA form. Section A is a binary form. The motive starts straight from the upbeat until the end of the first phrase and ends in key of A major. But it's last four bars--texture-wise--resemble much more nearly the second phrase, even though part of the original motive in the first phrase are interspersed and the return is signaled by a variation on the original theme, In third phrase, we have a parallel progressive repeated period with symmetric four bar phrases of the motive just with the dynamic pp instead of p. After that in bar 16 we have a C major (chromatic mediant) chord which is then followed by a diminished built on a c sharp which resolves to a Dominant seventh built on E ,and then we begin again with another four measures beginning in F major this time (moving up and adding energy like a good development). This second four measure phrase group ends on an E major chord. We seem to have the return of the original motive; however, in the third measure it changes direction and we have two repeated sub phrases containing new expository material ending the first phrase on a sort of plagal cadence in its eighth measure. After that cadence strongly at the end of another eight measures in A major (m48), thus making section A closed. It certainly does have a winding down feel to it after that point, and there is no more return of the original a melody after that point. In B section, the left hand accompaniment changed to four quavers against six quavers. It begins with eight bars lyrical melody and with sequence. Then it comes to a contrasting phrase of F# major (mm.57-64) which serves as a kind of eye of the storm for the entire piece, lasting for eight bars as well with play in a little slower tempo and softer in dynamic. After that it only goes back into the lyrical melody again.

Historical When I played this piece, I had found out some historical background of Brahms especially his relationship with Schumann. There was a violinist called Joseph Joachim had given Brahms a letter of introduction to Robert Schumann, Brahms was welcomed by the Schumann family. Schumann, amazed by the 20-year-old's talent, published an article entitled "Neue Bahnen" (New Paths) in the 28 October 1853 issue of the journal Neue Zeitschrift fr Musik alerting the public to the young man, who, he claimed, was "destined to give ideal expression to the times. Later on, Brahms became very attached to Schumann's wife, the composer and pianist Clara, fourteen years his senior, with whom he would carry on a lifelong, emotionally passionate relationship. Brahms never married, despite strong feelings for several women and despite entering into an engagement, soon broken off. After Schumann's attempted suicide and subsequent confinement in a mental sanatorium near Bonn in February 1854, Brahms was the main intercessor between Clara and her husband, and found himself virtually head of the household. After Schumann's death, Brahms hurried to Dsseldorf and for the next two years lived in an apartment above the Schumann's house, and sacrificed his career and his art for Clara's sake. The question of Brahms and Clara Schumann is perhaps the most mysterious in music history, alongside that of Beethoven's "Immortal Beloved." Whether they were actually lovers is unknown, but their destruction of their letters to each other may point to something beyond mere privacy. Hence, in my opinion, when Brahms wrote this intermezzo, he was trying to express his feeling that falling in love to someone that should not be. The feeling of to love her or not is struggling Brahmss heart. In section A, I think Brahms is so revel to express his love to Clara. Hence, I would play the melody part softly and tenderly like holding the lover in my arm. In the left accompaniment I would play like I am riding a roller-coaster to portrait the falling feeling. As my hands is small, there are chords that above octave higher, I would play in arppegio runs from the lowest note to the highest. In section B, I am imagining Brahms then realistically he realized that he cannot fall in love with Clara as she is the wife of Schumann. So there exist the chromatic chords and thick texture of harmony. Then come to the end of the piece, I think Brahms would like to keep his love to Clara deep inside his heart. Hence, the last section of the piece is played sweetly and a little animation and of course with expressive. Overall, the dynamic of this piece is soft. However, I need to control

the touch so that I am still able to bring out the contrast phrases and the melody is played not too softer. Discussion During the presentation, when discussion about the contrasting phrase of F# major in bars 57-64, In this section the harmony is changed which similar to the harmony played in church hymns. Brahms may come to life and death, he is thinking about the religion and he needs God. Hence, in this piece, not only about the relationship between Brahms and Clara but also Brahms is facing the between the life and death. Everything to him is meaningless. Conclusion This piece is gorgeous. Brahms managed to make a major key nostalgic, gentle, and almost softly tragic. I need more time to gain the feeling of Brahmss loves to Clara before I start to perform the piece so that, I can be more expressive enough to play this piece.