With opuses 1, 2, 4, 5, and 10, this volume contains virtually all of Johannes Brahms’ early piano oeuvre, with which the budding composer and pianist introduced himself to the public. The Scherzo op. 4 from 1851 stands alongside the sonatas composed between 1851–53 as a substantial single movement that particularly delighted Robert Schumann, leading him to direct the public’s special attention to his young colleague in his famous article “New Paths” in 1853.

Written the following year, the F...