EsclusivoBrahms: 8 Piano Pieces, Op. 76 - 1. Capriccio. Un poco agitato (F♯ minor)

【Classical music and nature 古典音樂小站】Johannes Brahms: 8 Piano Pieces, Op. 76 - 1. Capriccio. Un poco agitato (F♯ minor). This beautiful piece was played by Luis Sarro. It has Creative Commons license (Public Domain Mark 1.0 Universal) and is provided through www.musopen.org.

After a long hiatus that included the German Requiem, the first two symphonies, and other major works, Brahms finally returned to composition for solo piano in the late 1870s.

The Nineteenth Century saw the rise of the short piano piece, sometimes called a “character piece,” as a quintessential genre, exemplified by composers such as Schumann, Chopin, and Liszt.

All of Brahms’s remaining solo piano output would be devoted to such pieces: the two sets from this period, Opp. 76 and 79, and then the very late outpouring in Opp. 116-119.

In these pieces, Brahms was as generic as possible with his titles, wishing to avoid programmatic associations. Op. 76 contains four each of pieces labeled “Capriccio” and “Intermezzo.”

The Capriccios are faster and more dramatic, generally looser in form, while the Intermezzi are more introspective and clear-cut. In contrast to the straightforward ternary forms seen in the late pieces, Op. 76 exhibits more developmental passages and variations on binary and sonata forms.

No. 2, though in a minor key, is the most lighthearted of the Capriccios. It seems more indebted to Schubert than to Schumann and Chopin, whose spirits are palpable in the other pieces. Brahms experiments with rhythm and meter throughout the set, nowhere more so than in the thrilling metric virtuosity of No. 5.

The framing Capriccios Nos. 1 and 8 have similar forms, but opposite characters. The ominous, dark No. 1 contrasts effectively with the breathless, perpetual syncopated motion of No. 8. Of the Intermezzi, the wistful No. 4 is notable for firmly establishing its home key at a very late point. No. 3 creates ethereal sounds with bell-like chords over a high, static left hand. No. 7 subtly connects the solemnity of its framing chorale with its leisurely main melody. No. 6, the Intermezzo in A major, contains some similarities to the later, more familiar Intermezzo in that key (Op. 118, No. 2). The ordering makes dramatic, musical, and tonal sense when the set is played in its entirety, but the pieces are also effective when performed individually.

Source: kellydeanhansen.com

The video was captured in Switzerland by Chrstian Schlegel and was edited by Wenjing Ma.

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