ABSTRACT
Johannes Brahms's success as pianist in his first public appearances in Hamburg during November 1847, in which he had contributed items to concerts given by other musicians, led him in the next season to give concerts of his own, on 21 September 1848 and 14 April 1849. Gustav Jenner's account of Brahms's later composition teaching gives us not only an immediate idea of what Brahms considered a useful and strong curriculum in 1880s, but also a window on his own early learning strategies and trajectory. He had made his solo piano arrangement of J. S. Bach's Toccata in F for organ, BWV 540 by time of his first visit to the Schumanns', and it became an important piece in his repertoire. Brahms's self-criticism soon welled up, causing a re-orientation vis-a-vis his heritage and a corresponding redefinition of his creative trajectory. From correspondence evidence we can note the relatively sharp distinction Brahms made at that period of difficulty between technical exercises and composition.
