Piano Sonata No. 3 (Brahms)

The Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor, Op. 5 of Johannes Brahms was composed in Düsseldorf in 1853, when the composer was just over 20 years old. It was published the following year. The work is dedicated to Countess Ida von Hohenthal of Leipzig.

This sonata is unusually ambitious in scope, consisting of five movements, as opposed to the traditional three or four. When Brahms composed this sonata, the sonata genre was seen by many to have passed its heyday. Brahms, who deeply admired Beethoven and the classical style, composed the sonata with a masterful combination of free Romantic spirit and strict classical architecture. The work is the last of his three piano sonatas, and was presented to Robert Schumann in November of 1853; it was the last work that Brahms submitted for commentary to Schumann, whose final disastrous mental health crisis was about to begin.