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In 1864, the publisher Spina handed Johannes Brahms some Schubert manuscripts. The ink-blotting sand was still on the paper, and Brahms realized with a shiver that he was the first person to see these pieces since the composer’s death 36 years earlier. The “Unfinished” Symphony had just premiered, and it had floored Vienna, which now began to realize how shabbily it had treated its favorite son a generation earlier. Jo was eventually to get the opportunity to edit some of Schubert’s final piano works for publication. For now, more of Schubert’s ideas began to leach into Brahms’ output.

The next blow was the announcement from friend Joseph Joachim that he was marrying opera singer Amalie Schneeweiss. That last name is “snow white” in German, and Joachim informed Brahms that the name was accurate. Despite the fact that she was an opera singer, she was still virgo intacto. Little did either know that the marriage would end in divorce, and Brahms would be caught in the middle when the divorce became the musical battleground of Vienna.

In Hanover, Jo caught Amalie’s singing, and her contralto inspired him to write a number of songs for her, and she was to become a major exponent of his songs. While in town, Joachim arranged a reading of the string quintet, and no one liked it, including Brahms. The sound was muddy, so Jo began rearranging it for two pianos to find some sonic clarity.

From this period, Brahms wrote down a collection of 16 short waltzes that have become a favorite of pianists everywhere.

Brahms: 16 Waltzes, Op. 39