Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 & Three Intermezzi Op. 117

Featuring

Francesco Piemontesi
Manfred Honeck
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Johannes Brahms

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Composition History

The Three Intermezzi, Op. 117, were likely inspired by pianist Ilona Eibenschütz, a keyboard prodigy, and also by Brahms's old love Clara Schumann, who was no longer able to play large works.

Compositional Technique

Brahms's piano concertos, including the Second, are not conventional soloist concertos; instead, they are musical architectures resembling a grand symphonic arc with the piano as an equal partner to the orchestra.

Composition History

Brahms referred to his Three Intermezzi, Op. 117, as 'the lullabies of my sorrows' and attached a mournful folk poem to the first one: 'Sleep soft my child, sleep soft and sweet,/ It grieves me to see you weep.'

Composition History

The second movement of the Piano Concerto No. 2, which Brahms jokingly described as a 'tiny, tiny wisp of a scherzo,' was originally drafted for his Violin Concerto.

Notable Performances

After its premiere in Budapest on November 9, 1881, Brahms and his collaborator Hans von Bülow (a pianist/conductor) toured the Piano Concerto No. 2, sometimes switching roles at the piano and podium.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Brahms's music, as captured by the inscription in the Leipzig Gewandhaus, 'Res severa verum gaudium' ('True joy is a serious matter'), is not casual entertainment but offers immense reward to those who engage with it.

Composition History

Brahms nicknamed his Piano Concerto No. 2 'the Long Terror' due to its gigantic scale, though he composed it during a sunny vacation in Italy, making it one of the most untroubled major efforts of his life.