Brahms: Piano Quartets Nos. 2 & 3 (Lars Vogt's last recordings)

Featuring

Christian Tetzlaff
Barbara Buntrock
Tanja Tetzlaff
Lars Vogt
Johannes Brahms

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Composition History

The genesis of Brahms' Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor dates back to the final days of Robert Schumann, who tragically died in 1854, with the theme of suicide directly intertwined.

Performer Biography

This album is the final recording of pianist Lars Vogt, who passed away in 2022.

Composition History

Brahms' Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor, Op. 60, was written as a memorial piece, likely reflecting on the passing of Robert Schumann, a close friend of Brahms.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Brahms himself described the C minor quartet to his publisher Simrock by saying: 'Imagine the man in yellow attire, holding the revolver to his head,' referencing Goethe's 'The Sorrows of Young Werther'.

Compositional Technique

Brahms' Piano Quartet No. 2 in A major features an 'exuberant Hungarian dance' in its finale, which Brahms himself performed with friends.

Interpretation

The performers on this album, Christian Tetzlaff, Barbara Buntrock, Tanja Tetzlaff, and Lars Vogt, interpret Brahms' music as allowing for 'boundless dancing, laughing, crying, raging'.