String Sextet No. 2 (Brahms)

Johannes Brahms' String Sextet No. 2 in G major, Opus 36 was composed during the years of 1864-1865 and published by the firm of Fritz Simrock. It was first performed in Boston, Massachusetts on October 11, 1866.^[1] The work is scored for two violins, two violas, and two celli, and has four movements:

Allegro non troppo
Scherzo - Allegro non troppo - Presto giocoso
Adagio
Poco allegro

Brahms did most of the composition in the comfortable country surroundings of Lichtental, near Baden-Baden. According to Brahms' biographer Karl Geiringer, it conceals a reference to the first name of Agathe von Siebold (with whom he was infatuated at the time) in the first movement, bars 162-168, with the notes a-g-a-h-e.^[2]

The work is characterised by its exotic sounding opening of the first movement, by innovative chord structures and its many contrasts both technical and melodical.

Swedish composer Kurt Atterberg arranged the sextet for String orchestra in 1939.^[3]

Popular culture

The first movement of this sextet is prominent in the last sequence of Bertrand Blier's 1979 film Buffet froid.

References

↑ http://www.klassika.info/Komponisten/Brahms/Streichsextett/036/index.html ; Keller, James M. (2011). Chamber Music: A Listener's Guide. New York: Oxford University Press US. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-19-538253-2. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
↑ Geiringer, Karl. Brahms: His Life and Work New York: Da Capo Press, ISBN 0-306-80223-6, pp 60, 91, 230-231
↑ List of compositions by Kurt Atterberg

External links

String Sextet No. 2, Op. 36: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
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

Duos	Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, Op. 38 Cello Sonata No. 2 in F major, Op. 99 Clarinet Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 120, No. 1 Clarinet Sonata No. 2 in E-flat major, Op. 120, No. 2 Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major, Op. 78 Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 100 Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108

Trios	Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114 Horn Trio in E-flat major, Op. 40 Piano Trio No. 1 in B major, Op. 8 Piano Trio No. 2 in C major, Op. 87 Piano Trio No. 3 in C minor, Op. 101 Piano Trio in A major, attributed to Brahms

Quartets	Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25 Piano Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 26 Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor, Op. 60 String Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 51 No. 1 String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 51 No. 2 String Quartet No. 3 in B-flat major, Op. 67

Quintets & Sextets	Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115 Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34 String Quintet No. 1 in F major, Op. 88 String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111 String Sextet No. 1 in B-flat major, Op. 18 String Sextet No. 2 in G major, Op. 36

List of compositions by Johannes Brahms by genre List of compositions by Johannes Brahms by opus number