Intermezzo in a Major by Brahms

Intermezzo in A Major (Op. 118, No.2) by Johannes Brahms is a small ternary form of piano music. In this music, it is clear to see that Brahms is fond of using the motivic ideas. This paper will explore the motivic idea and how this is developed throughout the music. Also, it will include the phrase structure of the piece.

First of all, the A section (mm. 1-48) includes a single period (mm.1-16) and some phrase chains which are prolongation to the period and some sequences (mm. 17-48). The single period in this A section is a parallel period since two phrases are very similar (Phrase 1:mm. 1-8, Phrase 2: mm. 9-16). This period contains the main motive which will develop and extended throughout the music. The main motive is the step-step-leap motion in the melody (C#-B-D). This main motive is important because other melodies are built out of this