Johannes Brahms's piano sonatas opp. 1, 2 and 5 were among the first works that the then 20-year-old composer published. Much of the music of the f-minor Sonata is closely connected to Brahms's visit to Robert and Clara Schumann in Düsseldorf in the autumn of 1853. There are indications that the young Brahms was inspired by Robert Schumann's Sonata op. 14 - which was also in f minor.

The music critic Eduard Hanslick also believed that he could discern the influence of Brahms's older colleagu...