Castalia 368
Intermezzo and Romance
Dear Friends,
I’m so happy and honored to share with you…
Intermezzo in F minor and Romance in F major, Op. 118 nos. 4 and 5 (1893)
by Johannes Brahms
performed by Ishmael Wallace, pianist
Brahms’ Op. 118 begins with a pair: intermezzi in A minor and A major, the one seeking home, the one already there. It continues, down a step, with a Ballade in G minor.
Pieces four and five again are a pair, again a step down: an Intermezzo in F minor and Romance in F major. The next and final piece of the opus will be in E flat minor; Brahms is laying out a pathway, step by shining step, a pathway into the dark — a pathway from which, as a song by Schubert puts it, “no one has yet returned.”1 Check it out; going down in whole steps from A, we reach the same key on the piano, but it is not A:
Brahms is bidding his friends farewell, bidding farewell with tremendous tenderness.
Thank you so much.
With every good wish,
Ishmael
Music as a Path:
I coach musicians online, guiding composers and performers alike to deeper connection with the Muse. For details, please see my website:
Schubert’s song is Der Wegweiser, “The Signpost”, from Winterreise. Here the chain is of minor thirds. At the words, “Eine Strasse muss ich gehen”, “A road must I walk”, the voice has G — B flat — D flat, which if continued would lead us, not to G, but A double flat.