Deep down in my memory - or perhaps my imagination - I find this little anecdote:
Someone asked Johannes Brahms why he played piano in the way that he did. And Brahms - for neither the first nor the last time in his life - decided to let his arrogance shine through in his answer:
"Because I can!"
I have not been able to verify this anecdote, so perhaps it's just one of those factoids that legends are made of.