Intermezzo No. 1, Opus 117

The Three Intermezzi for piano, Op. 117, are compositions that Johannes Brahms created for solo piano. The intermezzi were described by the critic Eduard Hanslick as "monologues"… pieces of a "thoroughly personal and subjective character" striking a "pensive, graceful, dreamy, resigned, and elegiac note."  The Intermezzi of Opus 117 were composed in 1892.

The first intermezzo, in E♭ major, is prefaced in the score by two lines from an old Scottish ballad, Lady Anne Bothwell's Lament:

Balow, my babe, lie still and sleep!
It grieves me sore to see thee weep.

Instrumentation: 423.11 brass ensemble

• Trumpet 1 in E♭
• Piccolo Trumpet 2 in B♭
• Trumpet 3 in B♭
• Flugelhorn
• 2 Horns
• 2 Trombones
• Bass Trombone
• Euphonium
• Tuba

This arrangement is part of our Boulder Brass Signature Series.