Ernst Rudorff studied piano with Clara Schumann and Ignaz Moscheles, and worked for four decades (1869–1910) as professor for piano at the Royal Academy of Music in Berlin, were his pupils included Wilhelm Berger, Leo Blech, Paul Juon and Carl Schuricht. While frequently working as a choral and orchestral conductor, he seldom played the piano in public, but was described as a fine pianist by them, who heard him play. Acording to contemporary critics he showed his special merits best as accompanist in song recitals. As a pedagogue, Rudorff trained his students in thoughtful interpretation and opposed virtuosity for virtuosity's sake. So he was on one line with his friend and headmaster Joseph Joachim.
Rudorff was not a prolific composer, producing only 60 opus numbers in his career, 13 of them for pianoforte. His production of piano music has some similarities with Brahms's. Rudorff prefers small scale ternary pieces with densely worked motivic and harmonic devices.
For all who are interested in Rudorff's piano pieces, there is now a volume available which contains for the first time his collected music for solo piano:
op. 10 Eight Fantasy Pieces
op. 14 Fantasy
op. 29 Two Concert Etudes
op. 48 Three Romances
op. 49 Capriccio appassionato
op. 51 Impromptu
op. 52 Six Piano Pieces
op. 55 Variazioni capricciose
The publisher is Musikproduktion Jürgen Höflich in Munich, who published the volume in a special edition for piano music, chamber music and songs "Beyond the Waves":
https://repertoire-explorer.musikmph.de/en/product/rudorff-ernst-7/The Fantasy in three movements op. 14, Rudorffs largest piano work, was dedicated to Brahms, so its score is presented by the Brahms Institute Lübeck in a gallery of dedication pieces:
http://www.brahms-institut.de/web/bihl_digital/widmungswerke_units/RudorffE_op_014.html