Brahms: 51 Exercises for Piano, WoO 6

Description

The 51 Exercises are a collection of piano exercises that Johannes Brahms wrote throughout his life, both for his own pianistic practice and especially for his students as well as for fellow teachers and friends. The composer was primarily concerned with practical aids to solving individual problems relating to playing technique. for a long time, Brahms did not notate many of the exercises and were not published until 1893 in a two-volume set. The famous pianist Clara Schumann, who was a friend of Brahms, praised "all kinds of intricacies and harmonies," and the musicologist Philipp Spitta saw in Brahms' 51 Exercises "a kind of key to his free piano compositions."

Further publications abroad ensured that Brahms' 51 Exercises for Piano quickly gained prestige and international distribution.

The collection comprises numerous exercises to improve velocity and dexterity, covering a wide range of technical challenges, including scales, arpeggios, trills, double stops and octaves through the various keys. Brahms' exercises are an indispensable collection when it comes to professionalizing Romantic piano playing. Breitkopf & Härtel provides the Urtext based on the Brahms Complete Edition published by the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna.