Brahms and Franck

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) was born in Hamburg, Germany and became a very original and well known composer in the Romantic Era. His father played the flute, violin, horn, cello, and bass and his mother was a seamstress. He grew up in a lower middle class family but had an excellent education. He began to have his piano lessons at the age of 7 and also learned to be proficient on both the cello and horn. He was an avid reader and ruthless editor of his writings as well as his music. He has completely destroyed many of his compositions. Upon comment about Liszt's meeting with Brahms, Liszt replied "I was visited by a genius". Brahms later settled in Vienna and focused his skills on harnessing rhythmic and harmonic tempi, making sure that every note counted in every single one of his compositions, and developing his material further. One could describe Brahms as the enginner of music, for his approach was remarkably similar. He composed a huge range of piano literature, among my favorite of course in his second and third sonatas which best encompass his playing. He wrote those before he was 20 years old...oh my.
Cesar Franck (1822-1890) was born in Belgium and studied later at the Paris Conservatory. Although he did not compose that much music for the piano, his pieces are legends (he spent most of his time composing for the pipe organ). My favorite of his compositions in the prelude choral and fugue (performed by Evgeny Kissin), and I believe it to be one of the strongest pieces of the genre to come out of this time.