Brahms: The String Quartets & String Quintet No. 2

Featuring

Judith van Driel
Marleen Wester
Marie-Louise de Jong
David Faber
Lilli Maijala
Dudok Quartet Amsterdam

Johannes Brahms

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Composition History

Brahms spent at least eight years composing his first two string quartets, Op. 51, which were published in 1873.

Composition History

Brahms's Second String Quintet of 1890 was intended to be his final composition, written 15 years and four symphonies after his first string quartets.

Composer Biography

Johannes Brahms, born in 1833, was catapulted into the spotlight in 1853 by Robert Schumann, who hailed him as the 'Beethoven of the Romantic age'.

Composition History

Brahms confessed to a friend that he 'destroyed at least 20 string quartets' before finally completing his Op.51 works.

Compositional Technique

The Second String Quintet, intended as Brahms's final work, includes an extra viola to create an orchestral timbre, contrasting individual solos with a richer background.

Interpretation

The performers embraced 19th-century performance practices, including flexible tempo rubato and the use of portamenti, to discover new dimensions in Brahms's music.

Interpretation

The performers on this album chose to record with pure gut-string setups to mimic the sound Brahms knew and to explore new sonorities and rhetorical possibilities.