Johannes Brahms, a renowned German composer of 19th-century Romantic music, though, had developed his philosophy and compositional styles through the heritage passed from the Classical era. Brahms piano works is generally categorized into three genres: the solo sonatas, the variations and the characteristic pieces. Brahms’ op.76, the central composition scrutinized in the present thesis, marks the composer’s decisive turn from his early gigantic sonata setting and the virtuosic variations toward an inward spirituality of his later characteristic pieces.

In this article, the compositional background of op.76 is first established prior to delving further into the analysis and interpretation of this work. This article falls into five chapters, with the first chapter outlining its objective and methodology. The second chapter presents background research on the development of the genres Capriccio and Intermezzo. Aiming at providing an in-depth study of op.76, an analytical account of aspects such as music form, harmony, texture and rhythm is covered in chapter three. The fourth chapter is an interpretation in which aspects such as tempo, dynamics and velocity are examined. The last chapter presents findngs to this research.