{hing the ltr sedation (0:39), ” “The third pas of he expan ithe lf ea Be amare tht explo the lower reer n ecg ea tes and an uneasy dotted cyt (0:53). Aves fe di Te te devi nes tach wt es, test meapborel speaking he gamble th major and minor onal, tatertwining thet a ‘means of creating both compro ambiguity nd nthe hooehal ‘perception, emotional any, The mas avs and oes, labor ings three themes before restalching them in the recpialation “The now falar dated tne notaes expands int deine the coda, which iss to Bering ft (07). Justa sly the texto thins out in show, writen ont il ht aes away it pani, only tobe frilly and expectedly conde by 0 fag oti chords, dominant to toni, bringing his not unhap solic of rapes to seed om Clara, who tok al an, he changed his mind, abandoning the poor gel to her own devices. He took a liking o Julie Schumann, {Cars daughter, expressing his frustration ypoa hearing tht she had ‘marred an talian cout Late nlf he develope erush on Hermine Spies, whom he met nthe couityside while ahold and who, ike all the other women he admired romantialy (ve for Cara), was 2 Singer. But when winter ole around they parted company, and again Bras’ inerest cole ae quickly a water at ero depres, When his Feelings became bit oo overheated with ir plano student Elisabeth ‘om Stockhausen, with whom he remained friendly even aftr she mar. Fied the composer Heinrich von Herzogenberg, he agaln took ight Finally, here wos Alice Bark, rather lage ly fond of ample furs nd big hats, whom he befriended in Vienna in the 1890s and who, for Al intent and purpores, became hs ast paramour. ‘Aid what docs allthis ave eo do with an intermezz0 tht lasts turely fue mites? Well, ite posuibly nothing al. But then agin, the poem that inspired this work i Lady Anne Bothwell’s Lament,” fan Eiabethan cr ballad of anonymous authorship that cured up ina ‘olection of such works dsconeed apd asemble by Bishop Thomas Petey in 1765. As we sal ce, stay well hae inspired Brabms, the threes a for other, rather exams easons that, to my knowledge, noon to date has bothered to investigate ‘Asfor the pet sl, concerns a heartbroken weman, Lay Anne Bothwell, who, abatsoned by her lover, has given birth to his sn, Bemonning her fte and addressing her chil she revels her sori pst and expresses her rogrc, not fr her actions, but for her male Ina burst of Eliabethan machismo, ber lover, it scems, has gone off svat. She bese her boy t Bona his father nevertheless, becase ‘nly Goi tt judge the actions af ead "The poem ives unustlly expressive, even musical, and in ight ‘of what it might relly hive meane to Behn, the following excerpted Stanza four ot of thirteen) merit oar attention, if nt seri: Intermezzo Op. 117, No.2. (C0 Tack?) dare non troppo econ me exeessione “This brooding intemczzo raises more questions than it answers, and one question in particulr strikes me at worthy of discussion. Thus, before moving onto an analysis of this bri but haunting work, les take + deeper look at an eign that eat mack concerned with the ie of Johannes Babine ae implicitly connected o this particular ae By 1892, dhebahlor Brahms whose history with women was awash inure, dang ince given up ay hope of enterig into romantic ‘lationship with Clara Schumann, mich les marrying her. Doubtless heartbroken by Clan’ flr to regi his flection i the way he ‘would have ied, he met Agthe von Sebold, whom he came clos to ‘marrying, His intentions were certainly sero; he even immortalized ter name through musical ciation, making the notes A-G-A-H-Ese my bear fla Bsns ty cae and ite meat acorn wth then 9 boy, weep freee: on, ake, tet weap or me: it are groming to ss, pt the patie wher they comes stant eter eft, bear ny by, yl eres core ober tee weep ns cites only the opening couplet atop the fst page of the rine in thi ops (Op. 117, No 1) na transi by the un post and philoropher Johann Gotiled Herder I may be fiat for what doce say as much as for what i does. Ines, ‘Arvell own myth olds hat the teenage Hea, in an effort to support himself and his family, works in brothels, playing popular Intsias the Hbiinows lense went about their busines. Most sbol- tes ive disputed that legend and conclsively proven tobe eter hearty or fincfl vention of hs erly biographers. "The fact that Brahms did work as pianist i local Hamburg faveras, where pros tutes and orery manner of e'e-do-well lark, Tn his paper “Brahms, Solitary Alrist™ (Brahms and His World, Princeton Univers Pres, 1990), pychlatris Peter F, Ostwald, whose ychounalytic biography of Rebert Schumann revealed mach uncom Fortabl information about hat gest composer's compalive disorders, ‘ventures a provocative option Sexuality clearly stems to ave bee probe fr Beams He two ale tbe llectonate with women, een detonate a times waggeed by photoga, ltagh these are mostly (Fer Brame and ten oso the women hogging bi Father tha ce vera) Hs Bll cation If ot abhorrence in er to psa timacy may wll tasmatic childhood “experiences, eth parents wh were apa mari fen at {os prposes an perhaps sve inn Hae toward ‘omen ny ao hare been conto by the climate of sexual PromictyntheHansrg tavern whee he bad worked te er Hischmaon dese his ways "Too early be cae to Xow the acti, even, pce neue ofthe prota ‘cone tal eens bl wit of he eh rach Smo the inn after a long voyage, gredy for dri, gumbling Al lve of women, who, blend, sng their obscene ong tol accompaniment, then 0 Mom he ape a ejse lvalening bis rst sea ling.” (scam ction rom Grate p22) Whether the last who" in Hitschmana’s statement (who, hal ke, sang their obscene song) refers to the aloes tothe women Isunelenr, Certainly the strutare ofthe sentence and te poston af itsImumacy vretines compelled him to abandon the wurnen he ove sandy an unreasonable assumption, (OF all the poems he might have chose, ginen his penchant for “ryptic reference apd a we have cen, for masa allson, why did he “eletthis one? By 1892, rab ad already announced he tire jy two years earlicr he bad writen his publisher Simeock, yng, this note you can tke leveof my misc, because high ime 9p! OF course, he did na, though he slowed down bit, and Op, snl one ofthe ruts of his st years. Though there so elling id any foreboding or sense of the les that would end his Me re years Iter, he sere to ctut that his career was winding J Aralwapanaius about hi lacy and how his hes work woul ged and icterpreted by posterity he wrote to a amber of is ed acquaintances, including Clara Schumann, aking them 0 his personal correnpndence, Some did coding Clara, wh at the good sens to hold onto some of), hough mow did, pd reason ite asked them to doo offers no concrete evince whatocver his sexe isons over the yous, nor dost furnish even an ota fa hat knowingly sired an Meptmate chil, But does sp BS ceptation a an caestily secretive ma th Bel inca jonally clove to bis vert. He war no friend to lonelinesy, bat nbraed wold, This he dd not out of misanthropy, but out of necessity, He vale his private space and tinea the best and iene means to accomplish is Hes difiule work, His private fra his wn business, and ke mos celebrite he wae not exactly onthe Hea of ving t boone pulc know course, Brahms hylan advantage chit man ofp ature Hl never be ale enjoy today—to wit, atlatvey ited medi yatta, ese tte most erstcal, more often han ot orld troubles of socey's most prominent cizens and alo respected ie privacy. He was, afterall, wealthy man witha ela rept inspite of his sometimes gruff manners, widely admieed for bis rand knew of tnd connected to make the problem ‘ge eway lth ond legally. ‘The relevant question, then, snot if or whether edd so, but ifn alluding the Lady Anne Bothwell, he was trying to eave posterity a ‘he, Wa the shrewd st inage- conscious Bram atempeing, i some ‘ally personal way, to clear is consiene? Were these Tllabies omy sorrons a repentant admin toa ytunborn fier confestor? Di it tasty ove is posthomous reputation extend to what hi legate progeny, informe of te paternity, might say abou him? Or di be "mpl want oleate behind, a most people do, some physical embod ‘ent of is Hes and blood and, perhaps by prox, his genius? eis ore likly tht his selection of the Bothwell poom led another Kind of reget, one born of fintsy, That Brahms had every ‘portunity to father ildren with ny number of espectble™ mates, but chose not to, nay well ave insted in him a ich fantasy fe that Allowed hin ocnvision paternity a wells to murat absence. ‘Ratsng these questions may suggest an agenda, the intent of which {sto nit, on the fimsiet of evidence,» eltual con. On the ater band iti surprising that not one of Brahmi’ biographers has thor ‘oughly Investigated the poole of is paternity. Certainly, even in the absence of prof it shard unreasonable to presume that, inthe ‘our of ome ity yor, eva mano rab ated stature might ave unintentionally or unknowingly futher a child, Notwithstanding Is modesty ad reptation for personal iterity inal his as, bth personal and profesional, dhe fact remains that noone knows with any degree of certainty jst how many lis he may have enjoyed—that fs, beyond his firs with respectable” women, Indced, there inane story that say reat deal out his character nce, while ona stroll with one of is well-hele society fiends, Frau Bruel, he was embarrased when a strectwalker shouted something at him, Whether she jus ecognired btn ae ala celebrity or wat ‘nerely trying to draw attention to her buxom Bgure isnot as telling {eis reaction “Tyan you to Kno" e told Fra Bll, that have reser made a married woman ora Fisk unhappy!”fof Heders Sime der Vale Heder, she vole ‘the Bothwell poem was published, bad been a Mbrary for more than thi ive years when he 2 Op, 117, having porchased sin 1856 Lat bat mle to goo the fact hat smother Sottih em, Same vole of Heder inspired one of Brahms’ eal lades Op, 10, That poem, "Edward" concerned the optic; yt we know for certain tha Brahms never tn his fathers hea. So much, then, for any species of haton that wold construc fc from fantasy, or cen Indeed suggest tht rab’ appropriation ofthe poem bogie his ttermezsi Op, 117i hardly evidence of 3 malic cat bor fra, but merely the melancholy el tn search of anaesthetic way to expres regret. Bris, is privacy and independence, was well aware of his imi Jc that having» wife and fly would only compromise Sofhis cand that the formation of sch bonds would be as sit woul be to those he loved. Hisselshness, a leat "areal of aman restons, wa neither advised nor fe thoughfully considered, If Bras had any agenda a lo sublinate his earthly desires i for of artistic expres 0, and especially in light of his musa piosephy, there fry demonstrable correspondence of affect that aks, nay wy, ls misc to hls personal ifs ad dies, mathe Geren Spi (Harvard Univesity Pres, 2008), fe and thoughtful critique of rhs inthe content of German Daniel Belle-MeKenna ler the allowing assesment, eich Rei on uch conjecture ntsafdepenticn: antic Shovel rom Brak’: youth ad deep by this into ate elancoy:thee he enim Opes 6-19] ae not the alleted mings ofthe Jonge Kress” Bs ies ogo Becher crested in arg ATne the Keplinsien), an been Such neater re PMT Ofen es eyaolen! by rosea! Aluplacenems: harmonies, motes, or gestures which ll ot Ide hel proper oa ete, hereby ggg eething {hat robe at ht can ne ge ener the ee in which original secured... As alas connate thilhood, one could emoably career that Brn com neat. speaks to is thougts fhisown youth. According che stan ject the opening lay [Op. 17, No. might bea ere put ht ss vie rom ht sists in patra lag (Sp Tt go rninlaeace expend a apes ‘might indo ref he act of returing to an old aed eurce {adhe memories evoked In rasing the ie of Bram potential paternity, {lo s0 not simply ‘beaut the Lady Bothwell pcm invites, but aa means to challenge the whole lick of increst in this question. The postion taken by biographers and rts sone of deference and respec, ad rightly 0; ‘nso doing, they honor, lke executor ofa vast ett, Drab’ wish that only hi work, not the quotidian exigencies of hs priate le, be made er for pubic sertiny In this was, scholarship honestly eats ‘lf inthe service of disolving myths and fntasy thi might otherwise gst inthe way offi, authenti, and ulimately useful debate om the merits of hs artistic legacy. However, to marginalize and dims such Issues a unwathy of attention serves only tallow apocryphal myths te flosrsh uncheck ‘With these admittedly extramusia denension in mind, pianists have thee work cutout for them. Masia interpretation demands ot Inthe cae othe ltermerzo Op, 117, No.2 lini are charged with ‘conveying the prevaling mood af sadness and reget, which a once palpable and discreet, codified a it tn chain of slurred to note ‘couplets defy itertwined within asteeam of epee (0:00-0:47), Proceeding quietly in an alternate aray of descending and ascend ing balfsteps, wholeteps, and perfect fourth, thexe intervals, 20 adritly but into the texture, exemplily contrapuntal melody, which ‘we examined earlier in connection withthe Andante ofthe F sinor3 design or gently emphatic lowever, I would be emis if dl ot put to rest the presumpt olutely apocryphal tion that this etermezz0 compses ‘oles, a there ar in fat four The melody and sparsely ied bass constitute to, while two groupe of tht second hich Brahms so carefully ecules under sas, ae asigned oan tenor voices, respectively. A more pragmatic overview, ‘who might have as opportunity to watch a pianist play this ‘pchse, would clearly show ts acho these group entrusted yt the pli ight hand and eft hand, igh the key i Bat minor, the hartonic rythm i elaively Hirsh’ fascination with tonal ambiguity expreses itself ih dominant-quaity harmonies, which oscillate consistently Inajor and minor. Only eight bar ino the work, a prolonged na most unusual aepeggo, based on a hybrid ubdomsinant epee harmonic rhythm to sow down and yield to ts ill ‘This compostiona device compromise a listener's inherited ens and evokes a sense of Freboding, Even so, the motvic ton remains stead ap repeats and then elaborates the fi, ard throughout he piece, theresa profusion of chromate that, movetnent rom a given pitch 0 the note ast next to ahove or below, Althoogh these speclic moti cells as we are bt ato te theme ar couples and Informit they also more frequently i the tenor vice. However, the estentis ‘ofthis ineralic relationship does wot necessarily rely on its ether. Though Brahe configure these sighing halfstep le step ells within the melody proper, they alo enjoy aie ded within the arpeggios, though nt necessarily next to her. they ae also dispersed implicitly across ime and begging the alep steno to trace thee destin enroute to fr and higher reglters th the introduction of a more placid second subject in fat (08), Bran inenafis the chromatic in che alo and enor sistenth notes in ‘texture here thickens, oo, amplified by perceptible dition of ith voce that competent the soprano atthe distance ofa hid. Restblishing ts primacy variant ‘ofthe principal thematic terial surface, only to he disturbed, Get bby a dlaphanous web of ascending ad descending arpeggios (219), au chen an array of lightly syncopated seventh chords (2:28. These in tur date pieniuine ito a fail filigree of dercending broken chords (238) ‘Not tobe forgotten, the principal melody again asserts self, this time expanding dynamically to the fst of only two forts in the entire ‘wor (3:32. Asthe esi increases, an emboldened easeade of arp os ence by octaves and dominant pel pot on F hemorshages ‘Hlortlenly oto the coda (249) Here, both thematic subjects combine in yet another ambiguon shift of tonality, ts harmonic coloration sg eitve of bot fla mar and Blt ior ‘OF special inferent here, though, is the appearance of si-note figure inthe soprano vice (2:57). Though a variant ofthe prolonged cadentialarpegpa in the Ket section, i perhaps no accent that it recalls another theme of Brakm's youth, which we have already examined, and that is the principal melo of both the Andante a Tetermeszo(Rickblck of the F Minor Sonata, Op. 5. But here the theme becomes selfreferentil at aeqires poignant new meaning, embroidered ants within the lager temporal context of retrorpect, tnd reget. Where the F Mino Sonatas Andante concerns tell with ‘pectic vison of romantic dealin tart here ("Tito hears in love ite embraced in lsfl rapture); and jus asthe symbolic meaning of ‘he Rickblck biter dellsionmen with the deleted expectations snd naiveté of youth, x0 eis Intermezzo, Op. 117, No.2, embraces a lifetime of regrets of love lost, nf hopes satered, I embrokers rich fabric of gir, in thi it alo cones the meaning of Hea’ ‘aller works, not the leat of whic the F Ainor iano Sonat, for All their exuberance and youthful presumptuousnes Pethap, then, when considered in the larger contest of his fe avd work, and alo in relation to the Elabethan poem of woe that Ih ces, there may be more to ths brief work than moct the eye, I{na ert to discern the approesate tone, ofthis diate plece, and to dsclose the affective omceptly with secrecy Indeed, this enigmatic sian but discreet inet life all ks own, one that ily codified in ts sul, complex, and interdepen- Mo be sare, despite ts size, ts complexity s such that. anew with every bearing, whispering ts secrets and iayone willing and abet listen. Yes, the Totermexzo yas secrets, all ight and aks only that we dot iy, (Op. 118. No. 6 (co Tacks) tonality ofthis weeping ministre tone poor in Eat hing to compromises intency or contained pasion, works in these Ite opus, seamen into sown ina jghlrward ternary form-—ABA. ls form notwithstand tea rapturous alli tht proceeds rom a singe mote ts, oiltng whisper of sxtcath note the soprano ing ove four bar and comprising only three neghboring Ma, Ft, and Faatural This ypotic Fragment, which Dic re ofthe traditional Requiem Mas, postions itself motive mantra whose continuous repetition eax obsessive Serving (100-1408) Indeed, rm the very oust t drones fy agnnst an upward swell of diminished arpegios that, is magnetic pel, ines Lemar the epcehre (08), Even as this ceric theme doable taelfin a sinewy pro: J msjor and minor thirds, dovetaling es doppelngers along the arpeggios blow blow around it ke cold wind over 2 je rsuking disonances don’ wx so much as they draw our to suspension: the saspenson of pitch material the suspension ution, and, most significant, the suspension af time isellerdent, and not only in consquence tfhiswholesale appropriation ofthe Dies Irae. This intermeszo' sole ht owes ts power toa species of sais that vrs the gradal and lost imperceptible evolution of an organism. Masvorgsky did much the same vaing hirslf of similar compositional aesthetic, but not ocabulay, in is opera Khoranhchina Although this ntermerao appear to bear witness to mortality, its pungent dssonances wach in pin and its voice, at kat inthe wo ‘ute sections, condemned like allt scream to the most ethereal plonsino, there alo ark somthing i-aliming ucts otherwise teas surfce evokes Nitric’ Eternal Recurrence ad the eye thats fe ad death in appropristing the Des Irae, Brahms seems tosummon death, yet atthe same tne, a transforming nt sme thing st astng, expressive, and materia ea work of at—that the Imermeazo self he negates its evocation of mortality and stales ‘metaphorical threshold between existence and anibiation, From this perspective, no mater whit parallels analysis may ye, an no matter what homology is crated tan flat to link the work's musical ocabulary and symbols to issues af inherited experienc, ty that ‘this trmezzo ial about death doesn't quite rng toc, ‘Certainly, its mide section comes to life quite on its own, is parade of thickening chords and martial rythm orbiting sound one predominant pitch the dominant B-fat 2:00), Here the sed of tum Pts se ablize, translated, of cour, into bold a jagged octaves ‘tha hold on for dear life othe dominan, Then, eather unexpectedly, A frtisimo reentry ofthe Dies re, now transformed into amet tore hopeil though no less agonizing spread of diminished chords (2:25), i imerrpte yet again by the trampet calls efore dslsng ently into an Aft seventh chord (2:50), The texture then thin, ivng leave once again to the Dies rac to resume original design, fet inthe darker ao ole (2:56). The ning moments are magical ill under the rhythmle spell ofthe Dies ra, a wig and distant coed ‘Fextickarmonies—a bouquet, if you wll, adsretly embed, ‘hough enharmoniclly translated Neapolitan sist chord (which sto sy, chord bul upon the lowered second degree of the scale and theelfawarenes, an anxious variant of dhe Dies ra rene fourths swell to fre in syneopes, only to de to pani (3:19-3:35), Resigned, the ever present cour the ler reghters oer 3 enacios Bat pedal elbike with the solemnly of funeral cortege (3:38) la this fia survey of dhe Des rac now doit and delat Imsanguised ery, a thickly accentuated able foresine ain is at gp (3:57). sapped time on carth a the Intermerza bide ade with the quiet and lonely Pla ince arpeggio. yncerto No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 83 Picol, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 4 Horns, fs, Timpani, Violins 1 and 2, Violas, Cllos, Bases 1978-81; completed in Presshaum, near Vienna mance a private concert with Hans von Bilow ing the Meiningen Orchestra. Official debut ofthe took place in Budapest on November 9, 1881, with 1 Theater Orchestra conducted by Alexander Erkel fomposer as soloist 0 Edvand Marssen ent Allegro non troppo sment: Allegro appasionato iment: Andante rement:Allegrertogeazioso me evo pln concertos, As we have already noted, the minor, was the beneiiary of number of ess, hoen ois ont compose a syrphony, that were eventually culated sed in thi and other works, The D Minor Concerto evolved of ymphony wih plo, iter than aa vebie fora virtuoso 1 show el is prowess a he competes for dominance with the ana unqualiiedscces. Bat few days ‘eastomned to sich bold, exeatallyabtract, and dsenant musi, hse fav booed. As Brains was reltively unknown, the crt pulled to punches in trashing the work a “unorthodox, banal, ad hori” “ody, ofcourse, we know better, and the D Minor Concerto hae become staple of the repertoire. It is also widely scceped and unan. mousy praised forthe masterpiece is Tha sd wil move oro more substantive lok t thie second plano concert, composed some twenty-one years Iter when Brahms, by that te a celebrity, was fifty-five years Brahms was on holiday nly then, in the spring of 1978, be nt sted the fist vague gai ofthis concert, He set few eas to paper but declined to flesh them out, fllowing hit seal procedure of Setting eas aside nt they were ripe enough to harvest. A few months lar he was back in Vienna, where he was entirely prenscupied with {he composition ofthe D Major Vilin Concert, Ina tof Scneuce (longing), Brahms returned tothe gente slopes so Kalan sun, sailing himself fhe agreeable climate an fll bodied Wines, But that tip, too, was cut shor, ad he was again compelled to return to Vienna Eide inspired by hi ltaian sojourn, Brahms ‘claimed hie old noecbooks and st to workin earnest on his cond pian concerto, Fnergaed and inspired by his Ralisn experience, the fomcerto poured oat of him lke boly water nd af a piece, Even 50 he continued 9 work ant forthe ears never absrdning his own prime directive, thts is preferenc fr allewing his mas to mare omits very own vie. Unlike the fst pane concerto, thi ane met with stellar reception e would not be overstatement to cal this a megs concerto, fn some vay, its ota concerto a all, that it echo, jst asthe ist one Aid, empty virtose display in aor of mre substantive mil vals Ie ic unasuol in that Brahms has penned four, rather than three, move ment, terpolting a devilishly dificult cherro between the massive first movement andthe autumnal Andante, The pio and orhestr, hile on more ols equal faking in this work, are not so much it