Brahms 51 exercises

[kghayesh]

Hi,
I want to ask about those exercises. Are they just mechanical exercises like Hanon, or they are etudes, in which they should be played musically too ? And are they important to develop technique ??

[brahms4me]

No

Yes (IMO)

YES!

[nicco]

Everything has to be played musically, even hanon. The moment you start playing something without musicality, there is no point in practicing anymore.

[robertp]

I'm working on a couple of them right now. Nicco is certainly right. Especially here -- the harmonies practically force musicality on you! Although I've only been on them for a month, I've found them incredibly useful. Warning! Some of the stretches and rotations can cause an injury. Be careful how you practice.

[ramseytheii]

Hi,
I want to ask about those exercises. Are they just mechanical exercises like Hanon, or they are etudes, in which they should be played musically too ? And are they important to develop technique ??

I wonder if by questioning whether they are etudes, you mean are they concert pieces.  They are definitely not concert pieces, though I think some poor soul has recorded them.  Can you imagine going to a concert of Brahms excercises numbers 1-7, and then 13-17?  Oh God.

They are important to develop techniques related to Brahms' music in particular.  Charles Rosen, the pianist and musicologist, wrote a terrific article about Brahms piano style and how Brahms deliberately cultivated an awkwardness and difficulty to his writing (you can find this essay in "Critical Entertainments").  Part of Rosen's thesis is that Brahms composed music using typical elements of the Lisztian school, such as octaves or parallel sixths, but then subverted their usage by making them have awkward melodic contours, or pacing them incredibly fast, or by assigning them the pianissimo dynamic, rather than the Lisztian double forte.

Passages from the concertos especially are addressed in these excercises.  As far as for a universal technique, I don't think they are as useful, because Brahms' style of writing for the piano was quite original and individual in this sense.  People often compare Medtner to Brahms, but Medtner was apparently always at pains to make sure his music was pianistic, and Brahms had the opposite attitude (always making sure to make it awkward). 

Walter Ramsey

[kghayesh]

  As far as for a universal technique, I don't think they are as useful, because Brahms' style of writing for the piano was quite original and individual in this sense.  People often compare Medtner to Brahms, but Medtner was apparently always at pains to make sure his music was pianistic, and Brahms had the opposite attitude (always making sure to make it awkward). 

Walter Ramsey

So you are saying they are not as something basic in a pianist's technique as say Chopin Etudes or scales ?

[ramseytheii]

So you are saying they are not as something basic in a pianist's technique as say Chopin Etudes or scales ?

Yes, I would say that.  Also it was Idil Biret who recorded them.

Walter Ramsey

[michael_langlois]

I worked through these a bit - I've found it is more beneficial to play Brahms' music than his exercises, as much of the same difficulties are found in the former.