Interpreting Brahms: Intermezzo in A, op 118 no 2 (tutorial)

A close examination of the subtle beauties of this favorite Brahms miniature.

[suzanneantisdel]

I’m learning it again at 91 and you are very much like my teacher when I was 14! Many of the lovely suggestions that you give I can see on my music that my teacher also suggested. This is a truly beautiful beautiful Brahms work that’s stirs the soul.

[marycarolwarwick]

What a beautiful and insightful presentation of this Intermezzo by Brahms. The comments are absolutely useful, as are the demonstrations of different ways to interpret phrases and notes and even whole sections. Any student, any composer, any performer would benefit from this in-depth and penetrating look at this Intermezzo!

[davidmurphy]

I've worked on this truly gorgeous piece for about 12 months now. But listening to your video gives me so many other interesting ideas to think about. And all presented in such a clear and calm manner. Thanks so much 👍

[daveatano]

Fantastic tips. Been playing this piece as an amateur on and off for nearly 50 years and never had insights this good. Thanks 😊

[vynderma]

Very nice. This will motivate me to 16:38 go back playing this. I’ve always loved Brahms. There’s a story behind this. I started taking lessons at the age of 55, after being a hack on the keyboard for years. I tutor calculus. A man, about my age, came for lessons. He was quite eccentric and wanted to study engineering for an unfathomable reason. His name was Billy Brahms. He claimed that his 90 year old mother was the daughter (or granddaughter ) of Brahms’ sister. He never explained why his mother kept the last name. After his mother died, Billy just disappeared. This was circa 2005 on Long Island. Struck by the coincidence, since I was singing his Requiem with my chorus at the time I met him, I decided to try to memorize this piece. I did - but have hardly touched the piano for the last 2 years. Listening to this will make me go back to the piano. Thank you.

[michaelsullivan]

What a wonderful teacher - as well as pianist and academic. Although (as a non-musician) I had always loved this Intermezzo, the analysis and skilled disection shown and taught here, has greatly enhanced my love for this piece. Thank you.

[connorchubbuck]

Love your interpretation. Thanks for taking the time to put this together and share your talents! I really learned a lot that I will be applying to my practice.

[Ann-rgbt]

Thank you so very much for your wonderful instruction. I didn't think I was much interested in Brahms until I heard this composition a short time ago. Now, this beautiful work plays over and over in my mind and I'm determined to learn it . . . practicing daily after a long hiatus.

[joesoy]

An EXCELLENT analysis of this wonderful piece! Thank you so much! I never tire of hearing it.

[MrMatthew]

This is a very helpful lesson. I especially liked the suggested image of falling leaves. Thank you!

[TERRYBIGGENDEN]

Beautiful and inspiring This piece is sublime Brahms absolutely flourished in his later years. Thanks again. :-)

[jessicachapman]

I am working on this now and found your video very helpful and insightful. Thank you!

[cdvorpiano]

Clive, you present this with such sensitive insight! It's so illuminating on many levels, especially harmonically. I really appreciate your gift of  sharing this and your other tutorials with other musicians and music lovers!

[desertratPS]

I’ve just begun to work on this gorgeous piece and very much appreciate your guidance. Thank you.

[Peter-tzrx]

The most direct and helpful video on this piece for me. I have small hands so the points you made were especially appreciated, made sense, and will be applied. Thank you for taking the time share your insights!

[fionanogawa]

Thank you for sharing such an inspiring tutorial, with so many useful insights and practical suggestions

[_kpa]

Dear Sir, I am playing this for my third year university exam. Thank you for this. It was incredibly helpful.

Sincerely,
Kutlwano

[traceyroberts]

I have been enjoying learning this piece lately and immersing myself in its exquisite beauty ... and now I look forward to playing it again tomorrow with even more passion after listening to your wonderful insights. Thank you!

[mikehutton]

I've only noticed this as I'm returning to Brahms from a long absence. What doesn't come out in your explanation is the part of Brahms which is so difficult to achieve - there are often two or more melodies going on at the same time. The thing I find exhausting about Brahms is the attention to detail required, which you've hinted at but have tended to shy away from after dealing with one or two elements. Perhaps I am being a little unkind as the video covers much of value. But there are a few important points which I believe need to be made, if this isn't too rude:

1. the dynamic lilt in the piece is crucial. Almost everywhere outside of the midsection there is a continual rise and fall in dynamic expression, almost to the point of seasickness. Failing in this regard is like playing Schubert's violin sonatinas without vibrato. It's also the reason why a slower tempo is important.
2: The tendency to excessive density in the accompaniment often occurs because people forget that pedal-sustain is vastly more effective in modern instruments. Those counter-melodies which the left hand is shot through with are often lost because pedal sustain is used for mushy sustain rather than a means to achieve otherwise impossible legatos or lingering chord structures. The trick is to work out where those melodies are and shy away from using the pedal so you can accentuate the left-hand melodies, but otherwise employ the pedal for sustain-effect elsewhere. But make sure you under-utilize the pedal rather than overdo it.
3: After the midsection the dynamics are still pianissimo, even if you're no longer using the soft pedal. Yet you seem to give the implication that somehow you can launch into the following section with aplomb. That's not what is marked. You start pp and build until the second time round, some four bars later, which you can launch into after building from almost nothing.
4: [you can take this part with a pinch of salt if you like] At the start of the piece (and recapitulation) there isn't just a single melody in the right hand. There are two. Brahms developed this technique of competing and complementing melodies, I believe taking inspiration from Schumann's Warum? (op 12 no 3) and other works. He uses the same technique in Op118 no 5, but there it is more explicit. This means you need to give both lines prominence - or alternate their prominence - rather than just concentrate on the top one. It also explains why your suggestion that the F# jump in bars 3, 11, and elsewhere should be started on the beat rather than before makes more sense, as the lower falling A-G#-F# melody is arguably the primary motif for the whole piece. In the same way your suggestion that the final phrase melody is C#-B-then up to the higher sounds quite incongruous in a piece of this nature. I know this may sound a bit fringe and crazy, but consider this: Why did Brahms separate the two right-hand lines in these cases (and particularly at the start) - the lower notes are explicitly given different stalks from the upper ones? Furthermore, consider the top line as being compromised by the lower one, so that the upper line would naturally just descend C#-B-A downwards, with a following jump up an octave to the higher A. But with the introduction of the secondary A-G#-F# line below it this is almost unplayable, so the upper line misses the lower A and jumps straight to the upper one. Jumps of a seventh in a primary melody set in contrary direction to the overall melody are rare up to this point, and almost unheard of among conservative composers, of which Brahms is almost the epitome. With an understanding of an implied but silent lower A in the initial melody, the interpretation of the final melodic line of C#-B-D, C#-B-A-upperA suddenly makes all he sense in the world.

All in all this is technically straight-forward to play but so dense with stylistic possibilities that you could take a lifetime and still never quite master it. Play it too sweetly and it sounds lame. Play it appassionata (which is an ever-present temptation) and you will lose the exquisite detail in the arrangement. IMHO if you play this and don't end the piece emotionally exhausted and covered with sweat then you're missing something. YMMV...

[DettolObsessed]

Thank you so much for the video. It's very helpful. I still haven't started it yet. I'm actually a little nervous about starting this hehe. I haven't played any Brahms in my entire piano journey. His technique is very new to me. I can tell he loves echoing his notes with SO MANY notes and with small hands this is going to be a little challenging for me. Going to give it a go, because I absolutely adore this piece and the way he tells his story really. Heartbreaking in some parts but then there's a little hope in there too. Just wonderful.