Brahms: String Sextets, Arranged for Piano Trio by Theodor Kirchner

Featuring

Duccio Ceccanti
Matteo Fossi
Vittorio Ceccanti
Johannes Brahms

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Composition History

Theodor Kirchner, a composer and friend of Brahms, made arrangements of larger-scale works, including these piano-trio arrangements of Brahms's string sextets, which were among Brahms's earliest chamber music successes.

Critical Reception

Simrock, a music publisher, commissioned Theodor Kirchner to create these piano-trio transcriptions in 1883, and Brahms himself approved of them, stating Kirchner had 'executed [them] superbly'.

Composer Biography

Theodor Kirchner, an accomplished pianist, organist, and composer, was a lifelong friend of Johannes Brahms, with their friendship beginning in 1865.

Composition History

Brahms stated that in writing the Second Sextet, Op. 36, he had 'unburdened himself of his last love,' referring to Agathe von Siebold, whom he met in 1858.

Composition History

The final form of the First Sextet's opening movement is owed to Joseph Joachim, who persuaded Brahms to expand the initial score.

Performer Biography

Matteo Fossi, the pianist on this recording, is considered one of Italy's most active and versatile chamber musicians and founded the Quartetto Klimt in 1995.