Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...
' String Sextet No. 2 in G major, Opus 36 was composed during the years of 1864–1865 (although it drew on material from earlier times) and published by the firm of
Fritz Simrock.
It was first performed in Boston, Massachusetts on October 11, 1866, with the European premiere following the next month in Zurich.
The work is scored for two
violin
The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
s, two
viola
The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...
s, and two
celli, and has four movements:
Brahms did most of the composition in the comfortable country surroundings of Lichtental, near
Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...
. The sextet includes a reference to the first name of Agathe von Siebold (to whom he had been briefly engaged some six years previously) in the first movement, bars 162–168, with the notes ''a-g-a-h-e''.
The sextet is characterized by the exotic-sounding opening of its first movement, by innovative chord structures, and by its many contrasts, both technical and melodic.
Arrangements
Brahms himself arranged the work for
piano four-hands.
Theodor Kirchner arranged it for
piano trio
A piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello, or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in European classical music, classical chamber music. The term can also ...
. Swedish composer
Kurt Atterberg arranged the sextet
for string orchestraAtterberg: Cello Concerto; Brahms/Atterberg: Sextet / Mork, Järvi
Review by David Hurwitz ''"Atterberg certainly knew what he was doing... the work sounds very beautiful and entirely natural in its larger guise."'' ''www.classicstoday.com'', accessed 7 December 2019 in 1939.
Popular culture
The first movement of this sextet is prominent in the last sequence of Bertrand Blier's 1979 film '' Buffet froid''.
References
External links
*
Recording by the Borromeo String Quartet
with violist Liz Freivogel and cellist Daniel McDonough from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in MP3 format
Chamber music by Johannes Brahms
1865 compositions
Brahms Sextet 2
Compositions in G major
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