Grading of Brahms' solo piano works

[sbartnikowski]

Can anyone provide a list of Brahms solo piano works in order of difficulty?

[49410enrique]

early-less hard
late-more hard

[redbaron]

It's tricky to grade them all. Brahms was one of those composers who didn't really write any piano music that can be considered easy, even his less difficult pieces are still pretty challenging thanks to his unusual way of writing for the piano which often feels awkward and unpianistic. There are some pieces which don't look particularly challenging on paper but feel quite uncomfortable under the fingers. It's quite interesting how Brahms can be just as difficult as Liszt but in completely different ways. I'd agree with 49410enrique about the later piano pieces being harder but mostly in the interpretive sense. It definitely requires sensitivity and maturity. The earlier piano music contains some pieces which are very technically challenging, probably more so than anything he composed in the later period, e.g. the Scherzo, sonatas and several difficult sets of variations including the notorious Paganini Variations. Are there any particular pieces that you had in mind?

[scherzo123]

early-less hard
late-more hard

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