Brahms: Klavierstücke, Op. 118 [Excerpts]

Brahms's late piano pieces exude mystery. The surrounding biographical details are unclear: we don't know exactly when they were written, whether they were conceived as they are or developed into their final form over time, nor whether Brahms intended them to be played individually or grouped together. They have vague titles like 'Intermezzo', 'Ballade' or 'Rhapsody', although there are some hints that Brahms may have had programmes in mind for some of them. The music is unsteady, halting and unsure of itself, often winding down obscure tonal pathways or tailing off without firmly saying 'that's the end'. It also has a complex relationship with the wide range of past musical styles it references, part of the reason Brahms is often mistakenly thought of as a conservative. However, in these pieces he doesn't seek to reproduce, say, Baroque polyphony or Scottish folk music but, by refracting it through his own harmonically and rhythmically experimental style, to mourn its irretrievable loss.

—Marc Brooks, Johannes Brahms: The Late Piano Pieces, Opp. 116-119, 2009

The third installment in the project podcast series explores the late style of Brahms.

This work was performed on the second concert of PCMS' Departure & Discovery Project at the Kimmel Center's Perelman Theater.