Brahms - Etude on an etude by Chopin

[presto agitato]

Did you know this piece?

This is by far one of the hardest pieces that Brahms wrote.
What do you think?

[spencervirt]

I love it!

Sounds incredibly difficult

[iratior]

Just about the only thing that could sound as hard would be something by Saynt-Sayennes (to deliberately mispronounce the name just for fun).

[perfect_pitch]

I wonder why this etude Brahms decided to arrange... and not one of the others.

But damn it was nice. Didn't know Brahms arranged any of Chopins Works.

[presto agitato]

What was Brahms favorite work of Chopin?
I'd like to know.

[hansscherff]

This piece can be found in the Brahms Klavierwerke part II from Peters and yes its hellish to play.

[kevonthegreatpianist]

liszt would think that this was easy

[symphonicdance]

Godowsky re-arranged almost all of Chopin Etudes.  Hell difficult, too.

[stillnimble]

I downloaded the music for this piece and I agree it is very difficult.I don't have a problem with playing the sixths but I cannot get near the speed required. I only started it a few weeks ago so I think I will be practicing  it for the next few years.

[georgey]

I wonder why this etude Brahms decided to arrange... and not one of the others.

But damn it was nice. Didn't know Brahms arranged any of Chopins Works.

Paraphrasing my liner notes of Martin Jones playing the complete piano music of Brahms on Nimbus records:

Brahms amused himself and sharpened his technique with keyboard transcriptions and reworkings of music by other composers.  This Chopin reworking dates from 1852 (Brahms was 19, he wrote his first Sonata [op. 2 written before op. 1] shortly after this) and was designed as a brilliant leggiero study in 6ths for the RH.  He did other reworkings where hands are reversed (a practice his teacher Marxen used). His arrangement from this same time of Schubert impromptu in E flat D899 No. 2 is an example of hands reversal (RH plays LH part, etc).  Probably the most famous reworking is Bach Chaconne for LH alone that Brahms did many years later.