Musical Love Letter

Brahms’ Intermezzo in A major, is a piece I’ve played for the last forty-five years. Recently, with the help of Dr. Lisa Leonard, Professor of Music at Lynn University and mother of my only student, Luke Reese, I’ve discovered new depths to this piece. She has helped me improve phrasing, voicing, and most of all, pacing. I now better understand the value of slowing down my usual quick tempo and taking time to let the music breathe. I hope this performance, imperfect as it is, will communicate the love I feel when I play it. Close your eyes and listen:

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) wrote the six pieces of Opus 118 toward the end of his life and dedicated them to his lifelong friend, Clara Schumann (1819 – 1896). These short, generically named pieces were for her to play in the autumn of her life. Brahms was only twenty when he made his way to the home of Robert and Clara Schumann in Düsseldorf, Germany. They received him warmly into their musical family. Just four months later, Robert had a nervous breakdown and was hospitalized for the rest of his life. Clara, fourteen years older than Johannes, describes him:

He came, like a true friend, to share all my sorrow; he strengthened the heart that threatened to break, he uplifted my mind, he cheered my spirit when and wherever he could, in short he was my friend in the fullest sense of the word.

After Robert was hospitalized, Clara embarked on extensive touring as a concert pianist to support their many children. She and Johannes never married, but remained dear friends to the end. I’m not the first one to hear in Opus 118 Brahms’ yearning for Clara and the relationship they might have had.

I’m calling the Intermezzo a “musical love letter,” but it’s broader than that. To me it is a complex statement of many dimensions of love. When I play it, I have in my heart the love I feel for all my family and friends; and for music, reading, and travel–all together the best parts of my life. I dedicate this performance to my husband Steve, who came looking for me this morning when a huge thunder clap cut short my daily walk. Did you hear the chorale section in the middle of the Intermezzo? I think of that part as the voices of loved ones in Heaven looking down with love and encouragement.

It was in a special music festival that my high school piano teacher held each spring, that I first came to know how well Brahms could express love musically. How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place from his German Requiem is my all-time favorite choral piece, here presented by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

I’m especially grateful to teachers who shared their love of Brahms with me: Hurshelene Journey-McCarty (Frank Phillips College, Borger TX), Alan Mandel (American University), Thomas Mastroianni (Catholic University), Marvin Blickenstaff (International Piano Workshops), and currently, Lisa Leonard (Lynn University, Boca Raton FL). And I’m glad to see that young Luke is learning to express his love for music. Here’s what he brought me this afternoon: