A compendium of German piano sonatas by Brahms was recorded last year, as interpreted by Alexander Melinkov. He performs on an 1875 Boesendorfer that features a particularly bright tone. The two large sonatas featured were composed by Brahms at the age of 19, and they are powerful and stormy compositions that pay homage to both Beethoven and Schumann.

The 1853 F-sharp Minor Sonata was dedicated to Clara Schumann. Melinkov's pedal effects on this piece impart n organ-like sonority on the striking harmonies. In The Scherzo in E-flat Minor (1851), Brahms bestows two trios and a coda on the structure. The energy in this piece is intense, as it carries the listener forward to the third Ballade, from Op. 10. The piece is thick with percussion, and exploits parallel thirds and sixths in harmonically wayward combinations.