Sonatas, Scherzo And Ballades

Johannes Brahms’s Piano Sonatas opp. 1, 2 and 5 were among the first works that the 20-year-old composer published. They were composed in 1852/53, although the Sonata in f-sharp minor was apparently the first of the three to be composed, as it was finished by November 1852. This work has a special place in his oeuvre. Besides its passionate atmosphere, his contemporaries discerned it to be “serious and dignified in character”. Brahms dedicated this sonata to Clara Schumann, whose husband Robert wrote to the composer that “Your second sonata, my friend, has brought me much closer to you”. The ingenious fingerings have been provided by the pianist Andreas Boyde, a recognisedBrahms expert.