I enjoy much of the music composed by Johannes Brahms. Some of his compositions are grand and fairly long, such as the German Requiem, the two piano concerti, and the symphonies. Yet Brahms was also a phenomenal pianist, and he gave concerts throughout his lifetime. I am a particular fan of Brahms’ intermezzi, Opus 117, 118, and 119.
On this new recording, we are able to listen to a huge collection of Brahms’ shorter piano pieces.
Brahms: Works for Solo Piano Volume 6
Brahms:
Capriccio in C sharp minor, Op. 76 No. 5
Intermezzo in A minor, Op. 76 No. 7
Capriccio in C major, Op. 76 No. 8
Intermezzo in E flat minor, Op. 118 No. 6
Hungarian Dance No. 2 in D minor
Hungarian Dance No. 4
Hungarian Dance No. 6 in D flat major
Hungarian Dance No. 7
Hungarian Dance No. 8 in A minor
Hungarian Dance No. 9 in E minor
Hungarian Dance No. 10 in F major
Gigues
Study after Fr. Chopin (Studie for Pianoforte, No. 1)
Study No. 2 after Weber (Rondo, Op. 24)
Presto after J. S. Bach
Gavotte after Chr. W. Gluck (arranged for piano)
Canon in F minor, Anh. III/2
Rakoczy March
Studies (5), Anh.1a/1: Chaconne von JS Bach
All are performed by Barry Douglas (piano)
This is the sixth and final volume in Barry Douglas’s survey of Brahms’ output for solo piano, which started four years ago.
The music recorded here spans the entirety of the composer’s creative career, from March 1852 (the Study after Weber) – eighteen months before the life-changing meeting between Brahms and Robert and Clara Schumann – to August 1893 (the Intermezzo, Op. 118 No. 6) – less than four years before his death, on 3 April 1897.
The Sunday Times, July, 2016 wrote:
“This final stage of Douglas’Brahms survey offers an engaging, always surprising sequence of short (with one exception) and often fugitive pieces…at the end, as if a salutary chastening after the fun, his left-hand-only transcription of Bach’s great D minor violin Chaconne. But, of course, it proves the most engrossing item of all.”
Here is Barry Douglas, talking and playing some of this music…
