Brahms prefaces his Intermezzo in E-flat (Op. 117, No. 1) with a quote from a short poem, a sad Scottish lullaby, sung by a mother who is comforting a weeping child. And this intermezzo begins like a gentle lullaby. But a reader from Beachwood, Calif., loves the moment in this piece, a short transitional phrase, when the music turns mysterious and troubling. I agree, and I discuss it in this video.
