Brahms - Piano Pieces op. 118

Composed in 1892-93, Brahms piano pieces opp. 116 to 119 are the last collections that he wrote for the instrument. Particularly noteworthy is his use of 'small forms' accompanied by a further increase in musical expression compared to his earlier works. In November 1892 Clara Schumann, probably the secret dedicatee of these pieces, confided to her diary that they were 'a true source of enjoyment, everything, poetry, passion, rapture, intimacy, full of the most marvelous effects [...]. In these pieces I at last feel musical life re-enter my soul, and I play once more with true devotion.'

The Six Piano Pieces, op. 118, include four intermezzos, a ballad and a romance. They were composed in summer 1893 in the Austrian resort of Bad Ischl, where Brahms had written the Fantasies, op. 116 (BA 9628), and Three Fantasies, op. 117 (BA 9629), the previous year. Once again Clara Schumann was allowed to try out the pieces, which she greeted as 'treasures': Brahms, she said, had given expression to 'a wealth of feeling within the narrowest of confines'. Indeed, the frequently played pieces of op. 118 reveal his musical cosmos in concentrated form with kaleidoscopic variety.

• Scholarly-critical Urtext edition for performers
• Reliable musical text incorporating all available sources
• Spacious layout on the page with practical page turns
• Ideal for lessons with advanced learners
• Added fingering
• Informative bilingual introduction (Eng/Ger)

The editor
Christian Kahn teaches piano at the Musikhochschule in Detmold. One of his specialties is the piano music of Johannes Brahms. Together with his duet partner Silke-Thora Matthies, he is a prize-winner of the Munich Competition and has released the world's first complete recording of Brahms's works for piano duet. In addition to the Serenades for piano four-hands, opp. 11 and 16 (BA 6570 and 6571), he has already edited many of Brahms's solo piano works for Barenreiter.