Brahms: Late Piano Works, Op. 116, 117 & 118

Featuring

Garrick Ohlsson
Johannes Brahms

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Compositional Technique

A descending chain of thirds, a melodic interval, came to symbolize death in Brahms's late music, and this interval is prominent in several of his piano pieces from that decade.

Composer Biography

During the period he composed his 1892 piano pieces, Brahms experienced the deaths of many close to him, including his sister Elise, long-standing friend Elisabet von Herzogenberg, singer Hermine Spies, Bach biographer Philipp Spitta, pianist Hans von Bülow, and surgeon Theodor Billroth.

Composition History

Brahms wrote his will in 1891, but that same year he met clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld, who inspired him to compose his clarinet trio and quintet, Opp 114 & 115, and later two sonatas, Op 120.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Much of Brahms's music from his final years, including his last work, a set of eleven chorale preludes for organ, seems permeated with forebodings of death.

Performer Biography

Garrick Ohlsson, the pianist on this album, won the Chopin International Piano Competition in 1970, which brought him worldwide recognition.

Composer Biography

Brahms confided to his friend Eusebius Mandyczewski, the future editor of his collected works, that he felt too old to continue large-scale projects after his G major string quintet, Op 111, of 1890.