Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 83: III. Andante

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Musical Terms (5)

• cross-rhythm English
  The simultaneous use of conflicting rhythmic patterns — Brahms characteristically places three notes against two, or shifts the metric accent through syncopation.
  Brahms's cross-rhythms are not mere complexity for its own sake; they create a sense of inner tension and harmonic suspension. Both rhythms must be clearly felt by the performer, even if the listener experiences a single ambiguous pulse.
• grazioso Italian
  Graceful — in Brahms, indicating an elegant simplicity that avoids heaviness despite the dense harmonic texture.
  Brahms's grazioso is sophisticated: a lightness of character, not of technique. The rhythms should lift and the tone should clarify even in thick voicing.
• Intermezzo character German
  The characteristic emotional atmosphere of Brahms's late intermezzi — contemplative, autumnal, intimate, and harmonically searching.
  The late intermezzi (Opp. 116–119) occupy a unique emotional world. They are not slow movement substitutes but private confessions. Play them as if thinking aloud, with no public performance gestures.
• mit innigem Ausdruck German
  With intimate expression — Brahms's characteristic instruction for his most heartfelt, private passages.
  The highest emotional quality in Brahms's expressive vocabulary. These passages (as in the late intermezzi) should feel completely private — as if the composer is speaking to himself. Restrain any impulse toward rhetoric.
• Nachschlag German
  A short ornamental note or notes appended at the end of a trill or other ornament.
  Common in Baroque music but also used by Brahms in his historically informed writing. The Nachschlag resolves the trill to the main note via a quick passing figure.