About this edition
Brahms's Second Piano Concerto, completed in 1881 after more than three years of work, is one of the most expansive and symphonically conceived concertos in the repertoire. Its four movements — including the famously demanding scherzo that Brahms wryly called "a tiny, tiny wisp of a scherzo" — fuse the soloist into the orchestral fabric with unprecedented integration, while the third-movement Andante features one of the most beloved cello solos ever written. The work demands extraordinary stamina and intellectual depth from the pianist, yet rewards performers and listeners with a richness of invention that places it alongside Brahms's symphonies in scope and ambition.
This score reproduces the first edition published by N. Simrock in Berlin in 1882, plate number 8263. Simrock was Brahms's principal publisher throughout his mature career, and the firm's editions were prepared in close consultation with the composer himself. As such, the Simrock first edition carries exceptional textual authority: it represents the score as Brahms approved it for publication, dedicated to his teacher Eduard Marxsen, and serves as a primary source for virtually every subsequent edition of the concerto.
About this edition:
- Full orchestral score (conductor's score with solo piano part)
- Page size: 8.5 x 11 inches
- Reproduced from a public domain historical source
- Source: Berlin, N. Simrock, 1882, plate 8263 — first edition
- Published by Purple 4R Publishing
We're delighted to make this historic edition available in a clean, affordable printed format, bringing one of Brahms's masterworks within easy reach of conductors, pianists, orchestral players, students, and scholars who value studying the music in its earliest authoritative form.