This is an interesting insight into the feelings of the musical professional: for those like me who do not compose, perform, teach or write about music professionally, no such responsibility exists. But in understanding and developing our knowledge of music, we amateurs often rely on the professionals to exercise that responsibility. Is there a real issue here?
Don't want you to think I'm ignoring this, pw - it's an issue I think about a lot! But I realised that any answer I typed quickly this afternoon would have been too superficial (including to say 'yes, I admit it, the professionals don't have any better judgment than the amateurs': that would be a too easy answer too). I'll try to come back to this at another time, but Tim and George have already made some good points.
Brahms seems to be a common blind spot for various people contributing to this thread - did anyone simply like him 'straight away'
I don't think I ever did have a problem with Brahms, actually - though I'm almost tempted to invent one just because I'm curious to see which pieces Ian would come up with as my personal Brahms recommendations!
Let's see about your Brahms canon. I would reckon the Second Symphony might be your favourite of the four; other works I would imagine would include the Haydn Variations, maybe the second piano quartet, the E-flat Clarinet Sonata, the Handel Variations, the Rhapsodies and the
Klavierstücke Op. 118, possibly the Requiem, difficult to say with the songs, perhaps much of the
a cappella choral music? Also the first Violin Sonata in G, very much so, less so the third?
I don't know all of those pieces, by any means, Ian! I think you may be right about the Second Symphony, although I also like the First (well, I like all of them in different ways, it becomes impossible to choose once I start thinking too hard about it ...). I don't know the Handel Variations well at all - will try to listen to those soon as I suspect I would like them, although I doubt they're the Brahms that would have won me over if I ever had had a 'Brahms problem'. The Requiem I like very much indeed, the choral music too, also (in a slightly different vein) some of the few songs I know - must investigate those further too.
Op. 118 I like a lot, Op. 79 I'm not so sure but that's because I learned to play them at an impressionable age and find it hard to get any perspective on them as "music" (in fact, I don't think I've ever heard them played by anyone else!). I don't know any of the instrumental sonatas well enough to tell you whether you're right about the 1st vs. the 3rd violin sonata. You don't mention the string quartets and sextets, which I also like.
