This is being a bit monologue-ish, but... there is no Toccata from Fiori Musicali, but rather the

Toccata Quarta per l'organo da sonarsi alla Levatione from Toccatas vol II (1637)

Brahms's personal maxim: Ruhig in der Freude und ruhig in Schmerz und Kummer ist der schöne, wahrhafte Mensch.

Very roughly, it translates as 'The most admirable and genuine man is calm in both his joy and his sorrow and grief.' Brahms also said (in the same letter to Clara Schumann of 1857, the year after Robert's death) 'Leidenschaften müssen bald vergehen, oder man muss sie vertreiben', which means 'Passions must quickly pass away, or else one must drive them out'.

Are you thinking turgid, suet pudding Richard? Its so easy to do Brahms soporifically, but I wonder if the inner game isnt a pitch battle with earthy stuff that is just under the surface,rendered metaphysically. This is a very
personal view, and I'm happy to be gainsaid on this, but the better-not instinct re: Clara's potential affections all but defines his modus operandus. I think this 'grace under pressure' in Hemigway's terms became a creative archetype-I hear it in Tippett amongst others. It transcends yet ennobles the personal origin of the emotion to
broader considerations, and in so doing gets the best out of whole tilt of romanticism.

Not really, I was thinking more of emotional constipation, a tendency to keep (musical) things in check. (Tippett in comparison lets it all hang out - think of The Knot Garden for example.) I think that's why the German Requiem is my favourite work of Brahms - here, the sense of (mostly) calm resignation which is at the centre of the piece is so to speak in perfect harmony with its composer's habitual emotional reticence.

Well, I don't find Brahms at all emotionally reticent; however, as a personality he was distrustful of fleeting impulse (let alone idle sentiment), or that which seems somehow irrationally motivated (in this sense he was hugely different in temperament from Berlioz, Schumann or Liszt, say). The emotional content is no less pronounced, just that it tends to operate in a deeper and more thoroughgoing manner. Could anyone tell me that, say, the Violin Concerto is anything other than a deeply heartfelt work?

Horowitz once said something very closely along the lines of "Music is controlled emotion", I think.  (I have some Brahms on order from Amazon; I might have something more substantial to say here if it ever arrives ).

if i may be so bold; i read Brahms as indicating that INTENSITY is problematic, whether anguish or ecstasy, in one's personal life. my own professional and personal experiences would support this indication. are we sure he intended it as an aesthetic priciple, as opposed to a pragmatic stance to life?
Brahms may also be someone who had to THINK deeply to know what he truly FELT; others may have to FEEL more or less strongly before they can start to know what to think. i have often observed these opposites in clients and colleagues. i find Brahms music deeply passionate and reflective and treasure this combination, the sense of feeling and awareness. listening to scriabin piano sonata 7 on r3 yesterday, it just sounded utter emotional and metaphysical tosh, lacking movement but not gesture of monstrous proportions. now that was costive, painfully so, but clearly scriabin had to feel to think, and not much of the latter in my view.
you may gather that i think to know my feelings, not feel to find my thoughts. how one listens, and learns to listen, is driven by such differences in the application of our minds; would this be the case for the authors of the differing views of Brahms?