Classical Music | Piano Music

Recorded on 01/02/2007, uploaded on 01/21/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Capriccio in d minor, Op 116, No. 7, from Seven Fantasies       Johannes Brahms

For Brahms, 1892 was a productive year for keyboard compositions, as he completed both the Op. 118 and Op. 119 sets in addition to the fantasies that comprise Opus 116.  The seven pieces of Op. 116 balance individuality with large-scale cohesion.  A robust Capriccio opens the piece, highlighted by frequent octaves, chromaticism, and metric displacement.  The musical journey takes the listener through expected and surprising key areas before finally offering a declamatory return to d minor.

Second in the set is the Intermezzo in a minor, which opens with a meditative theme based on two eighth notes followed by a half note.  The rising or falling nature of the half note is responsible for tension and release.  The B section retains this short then long rhythmic pattern, though now in the left hand as the right hand becomes more active.  The following A Major section offers a lush contrast while also serving as transition, as the opening motive returns, initially decorated through the use of grace notes.

The Capriccio in g minor (third in the set) has similarities with the Capriccio in d minor that concludes the work.  Both make use of falling thirds that lead to diminished seventh chords, resulting in harmonic tension.  Furthermore, Brahms uses an A-B-A design that is common throughout much of the set.  However while the final Capriccio moves to a brooding middle section in the dominant minor, Brahms moves to E-flat Major in the g minor Capriccio, thus highlighting third relationships, a technique commonly used among nineteenth century composers. 

The fourth, fifth, and sixth pieces of the set are all intermezzi based on the E Major/minor tonal area.  Both the fourth and sixth are tranquil in character and again highlight the A-B-A formal design with a more rhythmically active and contrasting middle section.  The fifth piece in the set is the shortest and perhaps most playful.  The 6/8 time signature coupled with frequent pauses on beats two and five create a gentle rocking sensation.  Brahms adds the performance indication, "Andante congrazia ed intimissimo sentimento" (flowing with charm and innermost feeling).       Christopher Atzinger

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.