Editing Johannes Brahms (section)

====Training====
Johann Jakob gave his son his first musical training; Johannes also learnt to play the violin and the basics of playing the cello. From 1840 he studied piano with Otto Friedrich Willibald Cossel. Cossel complained in 1842 that Brahms "could be such a good player, but he will not stop his never-ending composing."

At the age of 10, Brahms made his debut as a performer in a private concert including [[Beethoven]]'s [[Quintet for Piano and Winds (Beethoven)|Quintet for Piano and Winds]] Op. 16 and a [[piano quartet]] by [[Mozart]].{{which|date=May 2025}} He also played as a solo work an [[étude]] of [[Henri Herz]]. By 1845 he had written a [[piano sonata]] in G minor.{{sfn|Hofmann|1999|pp=9–11}} His parents disapproved of his early efforts as a composer, feeling that he had better career prospects as a performer.{{sfn|Hofmann|1999|p=12}}

From 1845 to 1848 Brahms studied with Cossel's teacher, the pianist and composer [[Eduard Marxsen]]. Marxsen had been a personal acquaintance of Beethoven and [[Schubert]], admired the works of Mozart and [[Haydn]], and was a devotee of the music of [[J. S. Bach]]. Marxsen conveyed to Brahms the tradition of these composers and ensured that Brahms's own compositions were grounded in that tradition.{{sfn|Swafford|1999|p=26}}