Book Size: 8 1/2" x 11" * * * * * * From the biographical introductory. SOME composers resemble certain people that we meet and dislike at first sight. For many, musicians as well as amateurs, Brahms is such a composer. At his best in his piano music he often repels. After the poetic tenderness and chivalric fire of Chopin, the overflowing romance of Schumann, the adorable melody of Schubert, and the proud pose of Weber, who prances by on gorgeously caparisoned arpeggios, Brahms may sound chilly and formal; but strip him of his harsh rind, taste the richness of the musical fruit, and your indifference will be transformed into admiration, perhaps love. It would be easy to map out three styles in the Brahms piano literature as De Lenz did with the sonatas of Beethoven, but it would be a futile effort; although Brahms gained in mastery as he grew older, he was more Brahms in his Op. 1 than was Chopin in his La Ci Darem variations. Take, for example, the E-flat minor Scherzo, Op. 4, which Brahms played for Schumann during the historical visit to Düsseldorf. It has in it a nuance of Chopin, rather in the color than the ideas, and it is so free, flowing, plastic, and so happily worked out, that it must have sounded to both Schumann and Liszt as something quite novel. They saluted the composer as a recruit to the ranks of romanticism. This welcome they repented as Brahms went his own way, steering clear of the Wagner, Liszt, Schumann tendencies. And yet they were fundamentally correct in their judgments. The very core of Brahms is romantic. He may have inherited the polyphony of Bach, the symphonic mantle of Beethoven, but he is, nevertheless, a Romantic, and nowhere more so than in his piano music. This E-flat Scherzo is formal when compared to his Op. 1 16, 1 17, 1 18, and 1 19; even the Rhapsodies strike a newer note. Let us, without attempting an arbitrary classification, divide his piano music into two groups. In the first we may include the three sonatas, the E-flat Scherzo, all the Variations, the four Ballades, and the Waltzes, Op. 39. Then we must skip to Op. 76 before we encounter solo music, and might begin the second group with the eight Capriccios and Intermezzi. Follow the two Rhapsodies, and until Op. 1 16 we encounter no piano solos. With Op. 119 the contributions of Brahms to piano music end. There are two books of technical studies, fifty-one in all, the arrangements of the Hungarian dances and some special études on the themes of Bach, Weber, and Chopin, which need not concern us here. But this grouping should not pin down the composer to any definite scheme; for instance, in the second, the F-sharp minor Sonata, we find material that is kin to his last works, and some of his new Fantasies are a reversion to the Brahms of the Ballades. In 1853 Schumann wrote his article "New Paths" and Brahms became famous. The composer-critic recognized the strangeness of the young man; in the first bar of Brahms you are conscious of a new note, much as the opening of the C major Sonata may stem from the Hammerklavier Sonata of Beethoven. It is not alone in the form, this newness, not in the idea, not in the modulation, rhythmic variety, melodic curve, or curve of harmonic line, but in all these there lurks something individual. This individuality caused Schumann to rub his eyes in astonishment when he heard the Op. 1, the Sonata in C, and made Liszt grow enthusiastic when he read the E-flat minor Scherzo.....

Internationally renowned concert pianist Joseph Banowetz presents this definitive collection of original masterworks by Johannes Brahms, featuring a comprehensive preface, composer biography, vintage photographs, and detailed performance notes on the solos. This anthology spans a wide spectrum of Brahms's most-loved piano works that have remained popular over time. Titles: * Scherzo, Op. 4 * Ballade, Op. 10, No. 1 * Waltzes, Op. 39, Nos. 1 (B major), 2 (E major), 3 (G-sharp minor), 5 (E major), 8 (B-flat major), 9 (D minor), and 15 (A-flat major) * Klavierstí_cke, Op. 76, Nos. 2 (Capriccio, B minor), 4 (Intermezzo, B-flat major), and 7 (Intermezzo, A minor) * Fantasien, Op. 116, Nos. 2 (Intermezzo, A minor), 4 (Intermezzo, E major), and 6 (Intemezzo, E major) * Three Intermezzos, Op. 117, No. 1 (Intermezzo, E-flat major) * Klavierstí_cke, Op. 118, No. 2 (Intermezzo, A major) * Klavierstí_cke, Op. 119, No. 3 (Intermezzo, C major) * Hungarian Dances, WoO 1, No. 2 (D minor) * Sarabandes, WoO 5 posth., Nos. 1 (A minor), and 2 (B minor) * and Two Rhapsodies, Op. 79, Nos. 1 (B minor), and 2 (G minor)

Compiled primarily for intermediate students, this collection contains an appealing selection of 15 works by Brahms. Included is an intriguing history of the composer's life, education and gift as a composer. In addition to a discussion on Brahms' style of composition, performance suggestions are included. Editorial markings have been added for pedaling and fingering.

During the latter part of his life, Brahms wrote only sets of relatively short pieces. With their formal and stylistic perfection, they are among the most valuable of the late-Romantic additions to piano repertoire. Included in this edition are 30 pieces by Brahms, preceded by a helpful introduction which contains definitions of the ballade, rhapsody, capriccio and intermezzo.

This modern reprint of the original scores features clear, large margins, making it ideal for students and musicians alike. Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897) was a seminal German composer and pianist. He was incredibly popular and influential during his lifetime and, Together with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven, is often referred to as one of the “Three Bs”. He is widely considered to be both a traditionalist and an innovator, and wrote for piano, organ, symphony orchestra, chamber ensembles, and for voice and chorus. Featuring large, clear note heads and wide margins, this edition is perfect for studying and following the music. Classic Music Collection constitutes an extensive library of the most well-known and universally-enjoyed works of classical music ever composed, reproduced from authoritative editions for the enjoyment of musicians and music students the world over.

Who inspired Johannes Brahms in his art of writing music? In this book, Jacquelyn E. C. Sholes provides a fresh look at the ways in which Brahms employed musical references to works of earlier composers in his own instrumental music. By analyzing newly identified allusions alongside previously known musical references in works such as the B-Major Piano Trio, the D-Major Serenade, the First Piano Concerto, and the Fourth Symphony, among others, Sholes demonstrates how a historical reference in one movement of a work seems to resonate meaningfully, musically, and dramatically with material in other movements in ways not previously recognized. She highlights Brahms's ability to weave such references into broad, movement-spanning narratives, arguing that these narratives served as expressive outlets for his complicated, sometimes conflicted, attitudes toward the material to which he alludes. Ultimately, Brahms's music reveals both the inspiration and the burden that established masters such as Domenico Scarlatti, J. S. Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Wagner, and especially Beethoven represented for him as he struggled to emerge with his own artistic voice and to define and secure his unique position in music history.