Sonatas, Scherzo and Ballades

With opuses 1, 2, 4, 5, and 10, this volume contains virtually all of Johannes Brahms’ early piano oeuvre, with which the budding composer and pianist introduced himself to the public. The Scherzo op. 4 from 1851 stands alongside the sonatas composed between 1851–53 as a substantial single movement that particularly delighted Robert Schumann, leading him to direct the public’s special attention to his young colleague in his famous article “New Paths” in 1853.

Written the following year, the Four Ballades op. 10 complete the volume. Already they strike a new, more Romantic note that Brahms described to Clara Schumann thus: “They are not very difficult, and even less difficult to understand”. This Urtext edition offers a revision of the musical text based on the new Brahms Complete Edition, with an extensive preface by editor Katrin Eich.