[Couchie]

Brahms should not be anywhere near contention for greatest solo piano works. I say that as a pianist. Surely all pianists let out a collective gasp at seeing Brahms included and Rachmaninoff excluded.

Of those listed, I vote for Schumann's Fantasie.

 

[Couchie]

And I love fugues but I'm uninterested in Bach

 

[Couchie]

out-of-the-blue rhapsodic improvisation lacking inspired melodic, transitional ideas".

Yes, this is what a fantasia literally is.

I love its meandering nature, a journey without a destination. Such is life.

 

[Couchie]

The only redeeming feature of Brahm's piano music is that you can be drunk and still do it justice.

 

[Couchie]

For some statistics I've just made up, 99% of pianists begin piano for Beethoven, 50% stick with it for Chopin, and 10% reach proficiency for Rachmaninoff. Brahms is not really in the picture.