The most ambitious in scale of Brahms's pieces for piano solo, the sonatas and variations, are contained complete within this volume: the three beautifully lyrical Sonatas in C Major, F-sharp Minor and F Minor, and the five sets of Variations: on a theme by Schumann, F-sharp Minor; on an Original Theme, D Major; on a Hungarian Song, D Major; Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, B-flat Major; and Variations on a Theme by Paganini, A Minor.

The music is reproduced directly from the definitive Vienna Gesellschaft der Musik-freunde edition, edited by its renowned musicologist, Eusebius Mandyczewski, who made his revisions from original sources, often Brahms's own manuscripts. For this Dover edition, the Editor's Preface and the Table of Contents have been translated into English.

Noteheads have been reproduced in a size large enough to be read easily as the keyboard. Margins and spaces between staves are generous, permitting insertion of written notes, analysis, fingerings, running measure numbers, etc. This edition will be welcomed, not only by the classical pianist, but by all who will find it highly practical and convenient for instruction, study, reference, enjoyment, and virtually any other purpose.