Four Pieces for Piano, Op. 119 (Brahms)

The fact that Brahms originally intended the title ‘Capriccio’ for his earlier Rhapsody, Op.

Since Brahms has combined these 20 character pieces in collections, he may have included some earlier compositions, and it is quite possible, although there is no definite proof, that some works—such as the E♭ major rhapsody—may have been conceived before 1892.

In a letter from May 1893 to Clara Schumann, Brahms wrote: I am tempted to copy out a small piano piece for you, because I would like to know how you agree with it.

Every bar and every note must sound like a ritard[ando], as if one wanted to suck melancholy out of each and every one, lustily and with pleasure out of these very dissonances!

[1] Clara Schumann was enthusiastic and asked him to send the remaining pieces of his new work.

The words ‘melancholy’ and ‘with pleasure’ aptly describe the atmosphere evoked by the falling suspended arpeggios that open the piece.

The middle section (bars 17–46) is in the relative key of D major, while the recapitulation returns to B minor.

It is arguable that this piece is in binary form and the B section begins at bar 49 where new material appears.