Andante

Brahms dedicated his second piano concerto to Eduard Marxen, 'his true friend and teacher', in the firm belief of presenting him with a masterpiece. In a letter in 1881 Brahms wrote to Elisabeth von Herzogenberg: 'I want to tell you that I have written a tiny little piano concerto with a little wisp of the scherzo. It is set in B flat - I am afraid I have used this otherwise good source of milk too often and too much'. If we consider Brahm's notorious shyness of big and pompous words, we can read an almost tender pride here, So here we have a rare case where Brahms, otherwise his own harschest critic, tells us that his piano concerto had turned out well. Historic recording 1939.