This article has clarified somethings of a misery. A long time back I remember hearing a Brahms sym played by four hands, it was so out of context, I was puzzled?I remember being excited, had no idea Brahms had scored the work for his own instrument,I intend to make some purchases, & hope I find Naxos in S.F. at Xmas.I t is great to read your lists, keep them coming

As noted by Manuel, the author, "Topaz", left the forum in February. As you can see, he had previously written an article about Schubert. Both articles were composer-specific and resulted from a vote among members of the Forum among several possible composers. There’s a separate thread somewhere detailing the voting procedures.

As will be seen, the contributions by “Hexameron” to the discussions about these two composers were particularly useful.

The apparent aim of the "Composer of the Week" exercise was to raise the general level of discussion about the main composers, and to produce a body of opinion to which newcomers especially might refer for guidance. However, after Topaz' departure, the project fell by the wayside for several months until "Handel" (the member here) was "encouraged" to produce an article about his namesake. Nothing else has been produced since.



Mango

Thanks for clarifying the situation on the Brahms article. I intend to refer to it often, It's too bad Topaz left, however "Hexameron's" contribution was excellant,I think I have mentioned somewhere, after Beethoven, Brahm's runs a very close second, however, although I know his work fairly well, I do not have that much, so ,definately on my list, I also appreciated " ChamberNut's selection, because I adore chamber music,& some of Brahms, Clarinet Quintet, Piano Quintet op 34,superb!,heard for the first time in what I call. my church, Wigmore Hall, so, yes I am finding this forum very informative.One question, has Brahms written any simple works for the piano? Lesley

Some of Brahms best known solo piano works:

Op 5 - Piano Sonata No 3 (written 1853)
Op 10 - Ballades (four of these, written 1854)
Op 39 No 15 - Waltz, piano 4 hands (written 1865)
Op 35 - Variations on a Theme by Paganini (written 1862/63)
Op 24 - Variations on a Theme by Handel (written 1861)
WoO1 - Hungarian Dances (written 1869)
Op 79 - two Rhapsodies for Piano (written 1879)
Ops 116-117 - Fantasias, Intermezzos (written 1892),
Ops 118-119 - Pieces for Piano (written 1893)

Some of these works are very difficult to play. For Ops 116-119, there's a splendid set by the pianist Helene Grimaud that's worth buying. These Ops 116-119 are individually short pieces, and it's reckoned they were written that way in order that they wouldn't be over-taxing for Clara Schumann to play (who was getting on a bit by that time, and not too well). Other good Brahms pianists are Rubinstein, Van Cliburn, Jando. If you start with Op 39/15, it's one of those of those lovely pieces you are sure you have heard from somewhere before.


Mango

Mango ,I appreciate your time for the suggested piano works by Brahm's, the list is growing along with "Hexameron's" & "ChamberNut's.The Sym's & Piano Concerto's I have.
Possible have heard most of his chamber works,(& this is where I am mentally right now)
Difficult for me to hear live music, as I live in Normandy,listen to Radio Classic, which is of fairly high standard, however the days are gone where one hears the whole work! hence my search, to build a music libraryof the God's Thanks

Well, I never really got much into Brahms until I ran (by chance, really) into the best buy I've ever made: a biography of him (1997) by Jan Swafford, hardcover, perfect condition, about 400-500 pages - six dollars. Needless to say that shelf had a space in it the moment I saw it. I began reading it and was immediately entranced at how well-written the book was, indeed it made me relate to Brahms quite like no other biography has done before (and that's saying quite a bit - I read a lot of biographies).

I supposed it was after I read through a rough description of what the Bb minor scherzo is like that I got somewhat hooked on hearing Brahms' work. So what did I do? Why, I went out and purchased the complete Brahms symphonies with Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic. They are probably the second best purchase I've recently made. Now I'm listening to quite a lot of Brahms, and I think that, in no particular order, my favorites of his are:

-The Symphonies
-The Double Concerto (Heifetz/Piatigorsky the first concerto I was really hooked on (and still am))
-The Violin Concerto (I always liked this one far better than Beethoven's)
-The Clarinet (or viola) sonatas
-The Violin Sonatas (and the FAE scherzo)
-The Cello Sonatas
-A German Requiem
-The Piano Concerti (both are amazing)

I'll have to come back to this one... too much greatness to put into one post, I tell you. Are there any recommendations? I've recently bought the complete quintets but haven't had the chance to listen to them.

__________________
"Aufersteh'n, ja aufersteh'n
wirst du, mein Herz, in einem Nu!
Was du geschlagen
zu Gott wird es dich tragen!"
-Gustav Mahler

Try to:
Wolfgang Brendel, Lucia Popp
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Prague Philharmonic Choir
Giuseppe Sinopoli

from DG

http://www.amazon.com/Brahms-Ein-Deu...2786767&sr=8-2

I think it is balanced and deep recording. And if you know the great Slovak soprano Lucia Popp, you know that she has voice of angel :-). But I dont recommend it because I am Slovak, but because it is honestly fine recording (in my opinion).