Johannes Brahms showed an interest in the music of previous epochs at an early age. In this context, he also came across the variation theme of George Frideric Handel which, in turn, inspired him to write an extensive work of variations for the piano. The new edition of the Wiener Urtext Edition is based on a meticulous comparison of autographs, first edition and personal copies. Brahms’s autograph copy served as an essential corrective; subsequent corrections of the composer in the personal copy of Max Kalbeck were taken into account as well. Changes in tempo and indications of expression of Brahms’s first manuscript version until the first edition allow conclusions about the composer’s interpretational ideas; they are analysed in the notes of interpretation. The clear and readily legible engraving makes this edition a convenient basis for studying this masterpiece.

Grade 7-8