September 2026
Intermezzi Op. 117, No. 1 (You only need to listen to minute mark 4:06 – but you can listen to all of them if you like! 🙂 )
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) was born in Hamburg, Germany and lived during the Romantic period. His family was poor but as a teenager he played the piano at local inns to help earn extra money. He studied the music of J. S. Bach, Mozart and Beethoven and played music with his friend Eduard Reményi, a violinist from Hungary. Eduard exposed him to folk music from his country which inspired many of Brahms’ later compositions.
He became friends with important musicians and composers Robert and Clara Schumann and lived with them for awhile. Robert Schumann wrote an article praising Brahms’ compositions and he became well known. There were two groups at that time, those that wanted the rich and robust traditions of the Classical period to continue and those that wanted to experiment more. Brahms loved the music of the masters he had studied so he was in the Classical period group. Others like Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner were in the experimentation group. There was a bit of a rivalry going on between these two groups.
Johannes Brahms worked as a piano teacher, a choir and an orchestra conductor as well as a composer. He wrote many songs, piano works as well as chamber music and symphonies. Some of his most loved pieces are: Hungarian Dance No. 5 (piano duet), Wiegenlied Op. 49, No. 4, Horn Trio Op. 40, Violin Sonata No. 3 and Symphony No. 3.
When Brahms was almost 60, he composed three intermezzi (Op. 117) which he described as, “three lullabies to my sorrow.” These are introspective and emotional pieces. He sent them to his old friend, Clara Schumann. She really enjoyed playing them and wrote back, “in these pieces I at last feel musical life stir once again in my soul.” When they were published a couple lines of a Lady Anne Bothwell’s Lament (Scottish song) were printed on the page.
Baloo, my babe, lie still and sleep. It grieves me sore to see thee weep.
I hope you enjoy András Schiff’s sensitive interpretation of this piece.
*Information from “Interlude.hk/brahms-late-piano-works-intermezzi-op-117,” & “Britannica.com”