b'Johannes Brahms(1833-1897)Intermezzo in B-flat Minor, Op. 117, No. 2 Intermezzo in C-sharp Minor, Op. 117, No. 3 Composed 1892Brahms described his set of three Intermezzi, Op. 117, as lullabies of my sorrows. Among the sorrows he was experiencing in 1892 were the terminal illness of his beloved friend Clara Schumann, the death of his valued musical confidant and friend Elisabeth von Herzogenberg, and his own struggles to continue composing. The title Intermezzo implies a brief work of modest aspirations, yet compared to other Brahms intermezzi, these pieces are strikingly introspective and melancholy, with great emotional intensity. No. 2 in B-flat Minor has the quality of a nocturne, with its melodic lines embedded in cascading arpeggios of shifting harmonies. The piece ends with an astonishing ascent of seven octaves on the keyboard. By contrast No. 3 in C-sharp Minor has the storytelling quality of a ballad. The opening melody is searching, using a stark unison texture. Both pieces have a contrasting middle section that offers a brief moment of warmth and solace.InstrumentationSolo piano Duration11Arkady Filippenko(1912-1983)ToccataComposition date unknownThe toccata is a form for solo keyboard that emerged in late 16th-century Italy. It had a popular resurgence in the early 20th century with well-known examples by Debussy, Ravel, Prokofiev, and Khachaturian. Like these works, Arkady Filippenkos toccata features perpetual motion passagework and the use continued.princetonsymphony.org/ 13'