Brahms: Scherzo in E-flat Minor, Op. 4 (Zimerman)

The Scherzo op. 4 was written in 1851 when Brahms was not even 20 years old. He also played the Scherzo to the Schumanns several times in 1853, and thus might have inspired his older colleague to write the famous article “Neue Bahnen” (New Ways). In it, Schumann praised “single piano pieces, some of them turbulent in spirit while graceful in form”.

Performer: Krystian Zimerman, 1982 Deutsche Grammophon