Intermezzo
Romantic works
Definition
A lyrical, introspective character piece, often intimate in scale. In Brahms's late piano works the term describes his most personal and harmonically subtle miniatures.
Historical Context
Originally denoting an interlude between scenes of an opera, the piano intermezzo was refined by Brahms in his late collections (Opp. 116–119) into a form of concentrated, autumnal lyricism. Schumann used the term more loosely for movements within larger collections.
Works (22)
- Intermezzo in A major, Op. 76 No. 6 Key A major
- Intermezzo in A minor, Op. 76 No. 7 Key A minor
- Intermezzo in A-flat major, Op. 76 No. 3 Key A♭ major
- Intermezzo in B-flat major, Op. 76 No. 4 Key B♭ major
- Intermezzo in A minor, Op. 116 No. 2 Key A minor
- Intermezzo in E major, Op. 116 No. 4 Key E major
- Intermezzo in E major, Op. 116 No. 6 Key E major
- Intermezzo in E minor, Op. 116 No. 5 Key E minor
- Intermezzo in A major, Op. 118 No. 2 Key A major
- Intermezzo in A minor, Op. 118 No. 1 Key A minor
- Intermezzo in B minor, Op. 119 No. 1 Key B minor
- Intermezzo in B-flat minor, Op. 117 No. 2 Key B♭ minor
- Intermezzo in C major, Op. 119 No. 3 Key C major
- Intermezzo in C-sharp minor, Op. 117 No. 3 Key C♯ minor
- Intermezzo in E minor, Op. 119 No. 2 Key E minor
- Intermezzo in E-flat major, Op. 117 No. 1 Key E♭ major
- Intermezzo in E-flat minor, Op. 118 No. 6 Key E♭ minor
- Intermezzo in F minor, Op. 118 No. 4 Key F minor
- Intermezzo in A minor Key A minor
- Intermezzo in F minor Key F minor
- Intermezzo (Malinconico) in E major Key E major
- 6 Pieces, Op. 52 No. 1: Intermezzo Key C major