Anderszewski / A Life Shaped by the Sound of Piano - NOSPR

The late piano works of Johannes Brahms, grouped in the cycles Opp. 116–119, offer deeply introspective music that constitutes a reckoning with life. Aware of the approaching end, the composer turns away in these miniatures from the programmatic content. His musical narrative assumes the form of intimate confessions. Delicate phrases and consoling harmonies serve as a metaphor for the act of dying itself, imbued with melancholy and acceptance of the inevitability of fate. Employing the minimalist form, Brahms conveys both the encroaching silence and a gentle tenderness towards transience.

In turn, the two-movement Sonata Op. 111 by Ludwig van Beethoven was considered one of the most controversial works in the composer’s oeuvre for many years. Audiences were taken aback by its formal originality and unusual metrical markings. The sonata came to be seen as a pure expression of Beethoven’s late style and is often interpreted as a “farewell” to the classical sonata form. Though early critics regarded the work with distrust, it was immediately admired by FryderykChopin and became a source of inspiration for both his Revolutionary Étude and Piano Sonata in B minor.

Although the late compositions of Johannes Brahms and Ludwig van Beethoven differ in form and style, they share a reflection on transience and emotional volatility, which guide the listener through moments of tension and relief to the final resolution.

Julia Broniowska / NOSPR

Concert duration (intermission included): approximately 110 minutes

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