Toby Appel, a violist on this recording, was featured in a 1975 CBS television special performing works commissioned for three violas, all played by him.
Composition History
Brahms intended his String Quintet in G Major to be his final work, proclaiming to his publisher, 'With this note you can take leave of my music because it is high time to stop.'
Composer Biography
Johannes Brahms grew up in near-poverty in the slums of Hamburg, despite his father being a professional musician in the Hamburg Philharmonic.
Composition History
Brahms composed his String Quintet in F Major in Bad Ischl, his favorite retreat in the Alps, after a seventeen-year break from writing for large string ensembles.
Critical Reception
Despite Brahms considering his String Quintet in F Major one of his finest works, it remains one of his least-familiar compositions.
Composition History
Brahms' String Sextet No. 2 in G Major contains a musical motif based on the letters of Agathe von Siebold's name, a woman he was once engaged to.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Brahms, despite writing some of the finest music for stringed instruments, found writing for them to be a struggle throughout his career.
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