Your favorite Brahms pieces...Where to start with Brahms?

[ffchopinist]

Hi! I've never formally studied any Brahms despite having taken 12+ yrs of lessons and would love some recommendations on some good places to start.

In terms of difficulty level, I'd probably want to start with something that isn't his most challenging in order to get acquainted but also isn't too easy to avoid getting bored.  If it helps with making appropriate recommendations, I'd say most of the pieces I'm playing are a mix of dipABRSM and LRSM level (if going by that system's repertoire list) and heavily in the Romantic era - ex: I'm working on several Chopin etudes, Chopin Ballade 1, etc.

What Brahms pieces would you recommend as a good place to start for someone who has never played any of his works but wants to get acquainted with both his musical style and typical Brahms-ish technical challenges?

Do you have any favorite Brahms solo piano works you would recommend in general?  

Thanks in advance, and looking forward to your recommendations!

 

[ewalker1]

Some nice pieces by Brahms to start you off:

Rhapsodies op 79
Ballades op 10
6 pieces op 118
3 intermezzi op 117

[adodd81802]

Nice little romantic waltz of his you may like Johannes Brahms "Waltz" Op 39 No. 15

[ffchopinist]

Thanks for the recs thus far! I started giving them a listen, and I'm liking many of these thus far.

What do you all think of his Capriccio Opus 76 No 1 as another potential Brahms "intro" learning piece?

I just discovered that one, too, and am curious if it's a good representation of his style.

Also, bonus points if pieces recommended somewhat suit small hands....I can only reach an octave (maybe a 9th on the edge only after much stretching) and would prefer not to have to drop notes, roll, or rearrange chords in every other measure  

[visitor]

Brahms piano writing can be quite awkward especially the later works (as I've commented in past, think more along the lines of playing an orchestral reduction of sorts and you get an idea of the creative solutions you'll need to come up with to make the pieces work well).  

One potential stepping stone is to get familiar with him through a composer that wrote in manner much more suited to the piano (ie feels better, more logical distribution of voices , texture etc).

The Moszkowski transcriptions of the Hungarian daces fit that bill and really deserve much more attention that most give.  Do listen to this playlist. Hard not to like a single thing from these 10

these are among my favorite Brahms pieces (up there w the late intermezzos which are gems but harder than they sound or seem on paper at first)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOYPesE_gnU&list=PLUSRfoOcUe4Ybcnpg-J7gbzTiGCUQXCMB

[adodd81802]

Bit of searching some users have suggested

- Brahms, Op. 118 nos. 1, 2, 5
- Brahms, Op. 119 no. 2

Here is a whole lists of different compositions suggested for "small hands"

https://imslp.org/wiki/List_of_Compositions_for_Piano_Four-Hands

I don't know all his music that much, I am personally not a fan many of his compositions (from what i've heard so far despite liking some pieces)

I did a little research and got the impression he was quite a loud pianist and composer with regards to FORTE emphasized. There are piano street forums discussing him as a pianist and composer and suggest while he may have been a very talented musician, he was by no means a genius at the piano (he was obviously no less than a professional) and did not consider it the main musical instrument for his compositions in the same way to that of other Romantic composers of his time.

Here there is even an original recording of him playing if you want to get an idea (not very good recording admitedly given the time)

[coda_colossale]

First concerto is a good start.
JK.

Even though I like him as a composer, I can't really say I like his piano writing. But still, I find his Op. 118-6 Intermezzo and Op. 10-1 Ballade are accessible, enjoyable to play and musically satisfying.

[briansaddleback]

Im not a fan of Brahms and I get a little perturbed whenever someone says how Utterly Beautiful 118 no2 is !!!! (trust me there are too many fanboys of that piece, not bc of the piece itself merits it but I suppose they just feed off of each other in their extreme opinion of it...btw 118 no2 is not even that great of a piece, it sounds sappy and too affected in its emotion like it is saying 'listen to me! i am so emotional!") ....however please do look into rhapsody no2 .

This piece is perhaps the only piece I am interested in learning that is of his mainstream known compositions. Very introspective and beautiful. UTTERLY beautiful.

[visitor]

that piano quintet in f minor is jiggy. there's a full transcription for solo piano of on imslp. one of his best works and it's normally not accessible for solo piano so it's cool we have a score to it.

it's wicked hard though. the original is a bugger and the solo piano amplifies it's difficulty but wow is worth it
https://imslp.org/wiki/Piano_Quintet,_Op.34_(Brahms,_Johannes)

[thalbergmad]

The Paganini Variations are the only work that really moves me by Brahms.

Much of his works are romantically restrained rubbish only marginally preferable to the Schumann virus.

Thal

[brogers70]

I love pretty much anything of late Brahms, Op. 116-119. It's deep like late Beethoven, but far more approachable for an amateur. There's plenty of musical difficulty, but it's not a struggle just to get the notes down.

[ffchopinist]

Thanks for the recommendations thus far, everyone! It looks like 116-118, Rhapsodies, and Paganini Variations are all worth looking into, plus a few others that have been mentioned.

Are there any more obscure Brahms pieces worth looking into as well?

[visitor]

Are there any more obscure Brahms pieces worth looking into as well?

Lesser known but super cool version of a popular Brahms theme

Sheetz
https://www.everynote.com/piano.show/125063.note

[theholygideons]

Brahms Viola Sonata no.2.
Oh my god, it gives me the chills.