Composer: Johannes Brahms (Born in Hamburg, Germany in 1833; died in Vienna, Austria in 1897)

World premiere: 1877 in Vienna with the Vienna Philharmonic

Instrumentation: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons,  2 horns, strings

Intermezzo for Orchestra in G minor, Op. 13

In the last half of the 19th Century, Russia was bursting with some of the most extraordinary composers in the world. And in that star-studded galaxy of musical talent, Anton Arensky was deemed one of Russia’s brightest rising stars. Arensky studied with Rimsky-Korsakov at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and even before his graduation, his first opera, A dream on the Volga, was heralded with great acclaim. At age 21, he was hired as a professor at the Moscow Conservatory where among his pupils were Scriabin and Rachmaninov. In 1895, Arensky moved back to St. Petersburg to fill a conducting post, and by 1901 had “retired” to concertize on piano and dedicate himself to his composing career. His compositions continued to be greeted with enthusiasm in his lifetime, until he died tragically of tuberculosis in 1906 at the age of 44.

Arensky’s legacy might have continued to shine brightly after his early death, but it appears his former teacher, Rimsky- Korsakov, consigned him to mediocrity, saying “In his youth, Arensky did not escape some influence from me; later, the influence came from Tchaikovsky. He will quickly be forgotten.” It’s unclear why Rimsky-Korsakov was so dismissive, but his assessment nonetheless became the consensus that Arensky’s music lacked any great merit, and it virtually stopped being performed. Recently, though, many of his works are being re-discovered, and with the greatest of delight. His early Intermezzo for Orchestra (1892) is one of those delights, showing a composer filled with a keen ability for lyricism and inventiveness.

The term intermezzo in music is typically reserved for a moment in between larger musical moments – in the case of dramatic works like opera, the intermezzo provided musical entertainment during set changes onstage. Arensky, however, appears to be investigating the term’s possibilities as a stand-alone musical genre. Lasting a mere three minutes in length, Arensky’s Intermezzo is a wonderfully creative little gem. It contains three distinct sections, the first re-appearing at the end as it bookends the lush middle section. The theme begins with the upper strings playing with quick bow strokes in a fast, propulsive rhythm, musically shimmering like thousands of glinting reflections. The clarinet and bassoon then enter as a counter to those sparkling, fervent strings, with an ingenious technique that is the sort of imaginative writing that Arensky was well respected for – the first three notes of their theme are intentionally slowed down (ritard), creating a feeling of momentary floating, before the theme then continues on in  tempo.

The middle section is verdantly lush and lyrical, harmonized richly with the full orchestra. The contrast created here between the opening and this central section is a marvelous one, as though a traveler has emerged from the light-dappled forest into a panoramic mountain meadow. And then, finally, the opening section’s music returns as brilliantly as before, bringing this Intermezzo to a conclusion, only this time, Arensky includes a small coda (brief ending section), and marks it Prestissimo (very fast). Arensky adds more drama here, with a sinister little bassoon solo rising up from the depths, emerging above even more twinkling from the violins. The final two bars calm the drama, ending with two delicate pizzicati (plucked notes on the strings) along with two brief, soft notes from the rest of the orchestra – a perfect ending to this fleet and magical little Intermezzo.