Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) - Intermezzo in B minor (4 Piano Pieces Op. 119)

The 4 Pieces for Piano were published in 1892 and 1893 along with three other collections. It was one of his last collections of work for the piano. In a letter from May 1893 to Clara Schumann, Brahms wrote:

“I am tempted to copy out a small piano piece for you, because I would like to know how you agree with it. It is teeming with dissonances! These may [well] be correct and [can] be explained—but maybe they won’t please your palate, and now I wished, they would be less correct, but more appetizing and agreeable to your taste. The little piece is exceptionally melancholic and ‘to be played very slowly’ is not an understatement. Every bar and every note must sound like a ritard[ando], as if one wanted to suck melancholy out of each and every one, lustily and with pleasure out of these very dissonances! Good Lord, this description will [surely] awaken your desire!”

Arrangement: by Mark Melman
Harp: Alisa Sadikova
Guitar: Mark Melman

Recorded at the Juilliard Recording Studio
Date: May 2023