Brahms: Capriccio in B minor, Op. 76 No. 2

i remembered this piece on a whimsy and decided to look it up since i couldn't remember what it actually was but remember having had to analyze it at some point in my beginning theory class (i think it was given us as an example of something that sort of defies analysis. there is a bunch of strange substitution, cadencing in the wrong keys... etc). 

there are 8 pieces in this Op. 76, and this is of course the second. it is marked allegretto non troppo.

this is short and there are wonderful recordings so i can afford to post a few. respectively: rubinstein, backhaus, and kempff.

when brahms wrote this in 1878 he hadn't written any solo piano music for twelve years and marked the beginning of the sort of "later" piano works which was a much smaller body. this particular capriccio has proved popular, its playful but somehow sophisticated gypsy like demeanor making the piece an immediate earworm.

the piece is in a sort of rounded binary form, where the first section is comprised of both minor and major portions (the major portion being in the relative of DM). 

the middle section, starting at 1:25 (of the rubinstein), is in G Major, a dominant to the relative major D. here is some very typical Brahms piano writing - lush, arpeggiated, lots of chromatic adjustments and lyrical melodies.

recap at 2:30, with a texturally similar but still fantastically original spin on the original theme, lots of octave jumps, etc. after a lot of chromatic uncertainty, the piece slows to a halt, and ends with a B Major chord.

for me it's important to capture a sort of shadowed grace which i think kempff does quite well - the slightly slower tempo and amount of weight he gives to all the notes (which are easy to make flippant if you take the staccato at their word) are just right, as is the curve he gives to the end of each phrase. i also like how the middle section is the same tempo - for me that's about the initial tempo he chooses, so he doesn't have to change too much upon hitting the lyrical section. i also like how the a tempo doesn't feel like a recap until he actually hits the main material of the theme.

the backhaus recording is different for sure. probably just by listening, judging from his ornamentations, his rhythm and phrasing, which are more along the lines of instinct than anything else, you can tell he is actually 70 at the time of this recording.