Teaching the piano was an important source of income for Brahms, as it was for many nineteenth-century composers. This gave rise to collections of exercises which at first he only occasionally wrote down, but later shared with other pianists (e. g. Clara Schumann). It was only after he had largely given up this educational and pianistic activity that he considered publishing them. In order to reflect their level, he suggested “all kinds of instruments of torture, from the thumb screw to the iron maiden” for the title page. We are now publishing this collection, which is essential for Romantic piano playing, as an Urtext edition, following the musical text of the New Brahms Complete Edition.?
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