4 Ballades Op. 10 3 Intermezzi Op. 117 6 Klavierstücke Op. 118

Abstract

F or the parents of Brahms, simple peo¬ple desiringonly the best for their son, Johannes was to become a "virtuoso pia¬nist" a typical phenomenon of the nine-teenth century, possessing a fiery tech¬nique, and destined to honour, glory, and riches. Johannes' ambition obviously did not quite follow in this vein, since when he began studies with Otto Cossel, he was found guilty of one fault: "He could become a very fine pianist if only he were to stop composing". This fault, so annoying to Professor Cossel, was viewed as a pre¬disposition for extraordinary develop¬ment by his following mentor, Eduard Marxsen. For at least forty years Brahms was a com-poser-pianist. At that time, Franz Liszt was the most brilliant example of this type, prodigious not only from the interpretive and technical point of view, but also from the audapity of his concert programmes, which mingled the late works of Beethoven with his own transcriptions and arrange¬ments, fascinating the audiences of his time. Robert Schumann, on the other hand, may well have followed the same path, were it not for a certain excess of zeal in his practicing which ended in technical disability.