The piano pieces opp. 116-119 were written in 1892/93 and are the last collections of pieces which Brahms wrote for the instrument. Particularly noteworthy is his use of the “small form” accompanied by a heightened increase in musical expression compared to his earlier works.

Clara Schumann, probably the secret dedicatee of the piano pieces, wrote in her diary in November 1892: “a true source of enjoyment, everything, poetry, passion, fantasy, intimacy, full of the most marvellous sound effects […] In these pieces I finally feel musical life drawn into my soul again and play once more with true devotion.”

A renewed critical evaluation of all known sources has resulted in small deviations from previous readings

The editor
Christian Köhn teaches piano at the Musikhochschule in Detmold. He specialises in the piano music of Johannes Brahms, as shown in his highly acclaimed complete recording of Brahms’s four-hand piano repertoire on CD with his duo partner Silke-Thora Matthies. For Bärenreiter he has already edited Brahms’s Serenades op. 11 and 16 for piano duet (BA 6570/BA 6571).