Last year I arranged Brahms Intermezzo in B-flat Minor, Op. 117, No. 2 for orchestra using instrumentation similar to that which Brahms favored in his his late orchestral works. I recently had a chance to clean it up and make PDFs available through sheetmusicplus.com; $42.50 for the downloadable full performance set.
Instrumentation
2 Flutes (1st doubles on Piccolo)
2 Oboes
2 Clarinets in Bb
1 Bassoon
1 Contrabassoon
4 Horns in F
2 Trumpets in Bb
3 Trombones
Timpani
Harp
Strings
Duration: ca. 5 minutes
This particular arrangement is unusually heavy in its use of harp and strings due to the nature of the music. The rest of the orchestra definitely makes its presence known during crucial passages.
I hope to arrange other late Brahms piano works for orchestra. This is something I have wanted to do for a very long time. I waited purposefully until now so that, like Brahms, I would know what it feels like to enter the autumnal years of life and, like him, I have more experience as a composer and arranger. I personally do not believe that Brahms ever exceeded this work in originality, harmonic complexity, and expressive impact. The E-flat Minor Intermezzo of Op. 118, and the B Minor Intermezzo of Op. 119 do give this one a run for its money, but I stand by my claim. That is why I started with this one.
I would love reasons to create more of these Brahmsian orchestral arrangements beyond my own desire to do so, namely commissions from orchestra conductors to create them or, of course, new works instead. As the post-pandemic concert music world reopens, please consider programming this arrangement, or any one of my unperformed orchestral arrangements or compositions, or commissioning me to create a new orchestra arrangement or composition. Thank you for your time and attention.
