Three Intermezzi, Op.117

No.1 in E flat major

No.2 in B flat minor

No.3 in C sharp minor

The Three Intermezzi, Op.117 were written in 1892 and are perfect examples of the poetic intimacy he achieved in these little works. The tender lullaby of the first - its melody protectively enclosed in an inner part in the right hand - was inspired by the words of the Scottish folk song on the first page. Both this and the third Intermezzo are in ternary form. The second is a miniature sonata-form construction, in B flat minor, with a second subject in the relative major, a development of the fragile first subject, and a recapitulation which turns the second subject sadly to B flat minor. The first theme of the C sharp minor Intermezzo has several close relations in the orchestral works but the expressive anxiety remains private, strictly sotto voce in the first section, no more than hinted at in the A major middle section, and only briefly outspoken in the closing section.

The Three Intermezzi, Op.117 are perfect examples of the poetic intimacy Brahms achieved in these late piano works. The tender lullaby of the first – its melody protectively enclosed in an inner part in the right hand – was inspired by the words of the Scottish folk song “Lady Anne Bothwell’s Lament” as translated into German by Herder and printed above the music: Schlaf sanft mein Kind, schlaf sanft und schön!

Mich dauert’s sehr, dich weinen sehn.

(Baloo, my boy, lie still and sleep

It grieves me sore to hear thee weep.)

Both this and the third Intermezzo are in ternary form. The second is a miniature sonata-form construction in B flat minor with a second subject in the relative major, a development of the fragile first subject, and a recapitulation which turns the second subject sadly to B flat minor. The first theme of the C sharp minor Intermezzo has several close relations in the orchestral works. But here - in this “lullaby of all my griefs,” as Brahms once called it - the expressive anxiety remains private, strictly sotto voce in the first section, no more than hinted at in the A major middle section, and only briefly outspoken in the closing section.

Brahms wrote his last piano sonata in 1853 at the age of twenty, his last set of piano variations in 1863 and no solo piano music at all for as long as fifteen years after that. When he returned to the piano it was with the four capriccios and four intermezzos of Op.76 and, as far as the piano was concerned, he restricted himself to similarly small-scale pieces for the rest of his composing career. The last four sets of such pieces, Op.116 to Op.119, were written during summer holidays at Ischl in 1892 and 1893 and dispatched from there by post to Clara Schumann who, he knew, would understand them as no one else could. “Even one listener,” Brahms said of these pieces, “is one too many.”

The Three Intermezzi, Op.117 are perfect examples of the poetic intimacy he achieved in these late works. The tender lullaby of the first - its melody protectively enclosed in an inner part in the right hand - was inspired by the words of the Scottish folk song “Lady Anne Bothwell’s Lament” as translated into German by Herder and printed above the music: Schlaf sanft mein Kind, schlaf sanft und schön!

Mich dauert’s sehr, dich weinen sehn.

(Baloo, my boy, lie still and sleep

It grieves me sore to hear thee weep.)

Both this and the third Intermezzo are in ternary form. The second is a miniature sonata-form construction in B flat minor with a second subject in the relative major, a development of the fragile first subject, and a recapitulation which turns the second subject sadly to B flat minor. The first theme of the C sharp minor Intermezzo has several close relations in the orchestral works. But here - in this “lullaby of all my griefs,” as Brahms once called it - the expressive anxiety remains private, strictly sotto voce in the first section, no more than hinted at in the A major middle section, and only briefly outspoken in the closing section.

Brahms wrote his last piano sonata in 1853 at the age of twenty, his last set of piano variations in 1863 and no solo piano music at all for as long as fifteen years after that. When he returned to the piano it was with the four capriccios and four intermezzos of Op.76 and, as far as the piano was concerned, he restricted himself to similarly small-scale pieces for the rest of his composing career. He had by no means abandoned large-scale forms but in the last years of his life his most intimate statements and most daring technical experiments were confided to the piano. The last four sets of short pieces, Op.116 to Op.119, were written during summer holidays at Ischl in 1892 and 1893 and dispatched from there by post to Clara Schumann who, he knew, would understand them as no one else could. “Even one listener,” Brahms said of these pieces, “is one too many.”

The Three Intermezzi, Op.117 are perfect examples of the poetic intimacy he achieved in these late works. The tender lullaby of the first - its melody protectively enclosed in an inner part in the right hand - was inspired by the words of the Scottish folk song “Lady Anne Bothwell’s Lament” as translated into German by Herder and printed above the music: Schlaf sanft mein Kind, schlaf sanft und schön!

Mich dauert’s sehr, dich weinen sehn.

Both this and the third Intermezzo are in ternary form. The second is a miniature sonata-form construction in B flat minor with a second subject in the relative major, a development of the fragile first subject, and a recapitulation which turns the second subject sadly to B flat minor. The first theme of the C sharp minor Intermezzo has several close relations in the orchestral works. But here - in this “lullaby of all my griefs,” as Brahms once called it - the expressive anxiety remains private, strictly sotto voce in the first section, no more than hinted at in the A major middle section, and only briefly outspoken in the closing section.