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tonebase Piano Course

Brahms

Intermezzo, Op. 118 No. 2

Taught by renowned pianist

Garrick Ohlsson

In this lesson, American pianist Garrick Ohlsson guides you through Brahms’s “unbelievably loveable” Intermezzo in A Major, Op. 118, No. 2. <br><br>Ohlsson directs your attention to Brahms’s detailed articulation markings, which he helps you to decipher and incorporate into your strategies for phrasing. You will learn to play the constant stream of eighth notes that flow throughout this piece with expression and musicality. This accompanimental figure, Ohlsson advises you, should not sound neutral or passive, nor should it overpower the melody. <br><br>During the piece’s more contrapuntal passages, Ohlsson invites you to decide for yourself which voice to bring out. He encourages you to consider highlighting one of the inner voices, since most pianists emphasize the topmost. Whichever voice you decide to bring out, Ohlsson advises you to practice doing so in an exaggerated fashion until you are comfortable voicing with more subtlety.

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    Difficulty: 
    Intermediate
  • checkmark icon
    Duration: 
    1
     hours
     hour
All courses on tonebase include subtitles in English and Spanish

Course Syllabus

Intermezzo, Op. 118 No. 2

In this lesson, American pianist Garrick Ohlsson guides you through Brahms’s “unbelievably loveable” Intermezzo in A Major, Op. 118, No. 2.

Ohlsson directs your attention to Brahms’s detailed articulation markings, which he helps you to decipher and incorporate into your strategies for phrasing. You will learn to play the constant stream of eighth notes that flow throughout this piece with expression and musicality. This accompanimental figure, Ohlsson advises you, should not sound neutral or passive, nor should it overpower the melody.

During the piece’s more contrapuntal passages, Ohlsson invites you to decide for yourself which voice to bring out. He encourages you to consider highlighting one of the inner voices, since most pianists emphasize the topmost. Whichever voice you decide to bring out, Ohlsson advises you to practice doing so in an exaggerated fashion until you are comfortable voicing with more subtlety.

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Garrick Ohlsson
meet YOUR INSTRUCTOR

Garrick Ohlsson

Since his triumph as winner of the 1970 Chopin International Piano Competition, pianist Garrick Ohlsson has established himself worldwide as a musician of magisterial interpretive and technical prowess.

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Garrick Ohlsson
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