The Complete Liebeslieder and Zigeunerlieder: For Four Solo Voices and Piano Accompaniment (Dover Song Collections)
In the second half of the 19th century, when every middle-class household had both a piano in the parlor and at least one person who could play the instrument with some degree of competence, musical evenings in the home were  a favored means of entertainment. Accordingly, composers wrote works to accommodate these talented amateurs. Much of the chamber music we now gather to hear in concerts and recitals was not originally aimed at professional performers at all, but at people who picked it up and played it just for fun. Music for  piano (solo or four hands) was the most popular form, but vocal music was also a steady seller. Brahms wrote the songs collected in this book, including  the "Love Song Waltzes" and "Gypsy Songs," for that audience. The compositions are  lovely, singable, and thoroughly Viennese. Gypsy music is a thread that runs through Brahms's compositions; the Liebeslieder texts come from a variety of sources, mostly Slavic. The songs can be done either by a four-part chorus, or by a solo quartet, and they work equally well either way. This Dover score, unlike the company's issues of  full scores of operas, is readily singable and playable, because the songs were written for four-hand piano accompaniment, not orchestra. Dover scores don't offer the latest in musicological scholarship, but they are an easy and affordable way to build a music library.