brahms is actually a bit of a black hole for me, in the sense that i legitimately have heard very little of it. but, this is in the general style of dark, aggressive romantic music that i like, and would seem to have been a large influence on rachmaninov; perhaps the missing link between beethoven and rachmaninov was brahms, and just right in front of me all along, without me realizing it.

this was apparently an early piece, so, like the chopin piece, it may be more indebted to beethoven than later pieces are. if you had told me it was beethoven, i'd have believed you.

but, this is new exposure for me, so i'm going to hold off a bit. i at least like this, i can commit to that.

it's at the end of the month, but they've already cancelled it.