Composer: Johannes Brahms
Performer: Belcea Quartet, Tabea Zimmermann, Jean-Guihen Queyras
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Alpha
Catalogue: ALPHA792
Release: 2022
Size: 2.42 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
String Sextet No. 1, Op. 18
01. I. Allegro ma non troppo
02. II. Andante ma moderato
03. III. Scherzo. Allegro molto
04. IV. Rondo. Poco allegretto e grazioso
String Sextet No. 2, Op. 36
05. I. Allegro non troppo
06. II. Scherzo. Allegro non troppo — Presto giocoso
07. III. Poco adagio
08. IV. Poco allegro
Brahms was one of the first composers to write for pairs of violins, violas and cellos, blazing the trail for Dvořák, Tchaikovsky, Korngold and Schoenberg. His two sextets are early works, composed in 1860 and 1865 respectively. Brahms wrote to his publisher that the Second was in “the same joyful vein” as the First. Yet the composer’s life was sombre at this time: his mother died suddenly and his romantic relationship with the soprano Agathe von Siebold ended in failure; indeed, the first movement of the Sextet opens with a viola motif on the notes A-G-A-D-B-E (AGADHE in German notation). The members of the Belcea Quartet called in their friends Tabea Zimmermann and Jean-Guihen Queyras to record these peaks of the chamber repertory following a concert tour to some of Europe’s major venues.