Johannes Brahms

Brahms wrote densely and revised ruthlessly, destroying what did not satisfy him, so the surviving catalogue is smaller than his contemporaries' and uniformly serious. It covers symphonies, concerti, a large body of chamber music, songs and late piano pieces.

For pianists the late Op. 116–119 pieces are the heart of it — short, inward and technically less punishing than the earlier sonatas, though musically demanding. The Hungarian Dances in their four-hand form are the most-played thing he wrote and are genuinely approachable. Singers have over two hundred songs and the German Requiem.

His piano writing assumes a large hand and comfortable tenths appear regularly. Editions differ little; what varies is fingering, and an edition with good fingering is worth paying for here.