Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897) was a German composer,
pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born
in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his
professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped
with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven as
one of the "Three Bs" of music, a comment originally
made by the nineteenth-century conductor Hans von
Bülow. He composed for symphony orchestra, chamber
ensembles, piano, organ, voice, and chorus. A virtuoso
pianist, he pre...(+)
Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897) was a German composer,
pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born
in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his
professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped
with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven as
one of the "Three Bs" of music, a comment originally
made by the nineteenth-century conductor Hans von
Bülow. He composed for symphony orchestra, chamber
ensembles, piano, organ, voice, and chorus. A virtuoso
pianist, he premiered many of his own works. He worked
with leading performers of his time, including the
pianist Clara Schumann and the violinist Joseph Joachim
(the three were close friends). Many of his works have
become staples of the modern concert repertoire.
Brahms has been considered both a traditionalist and an
innovator, by his contemporaries and by later writers.
His music is rooted in the structures and compositional
techniques of the Classical masters. Embedded within
those structures are deeply Romantic motifs. While some
contemporaries found his music to be overly academic,
his contribution and craftsmanship were admired by
subsequent figures as diverse as Arnold Schoenberg and
Edward Elgar. The detailed construction of Brahms's
works was a starting point and an inspiration for a
generation of composers.
Brahms's Six Pieces for Piano, Op. 118, were completed
in 1893 and published with a dedication to Clara
Schumann. The set was the penultimate of Brahms's
published works. It was also his penultimate work for
piano solo. The pieces are frequently performed. Like
Brahms's other late keyboard works, Op. 118 is more
introspective than his earlier piano pieces, which tend
to be more virtuosic in character. The six pieces
are:
1. Intermezzo in A minor. Allegro non assai, ma
molto appassionato
2. Intermezzo in A major. Andante teneramente
3. Ballade in G minor. Allegro energico
4. Intermezzo in F minor. Allegretto un poco
agitato
5. Romanze in F major. Andante
6. Intermezzo in E? minor. Andante, largo e
mesto.
Although originally written for Solo Piano, I created
this arrangement of the Intermezzo in A Major from '6
Klavierstücke' (Op.118 No. 2) for Flute & Piano.
PARTITION