6. Sunday Matinee

String Quintet No. 2 is perhaps the most contrasting work Brahms wrote for strings. This multicolored tonal painting oscillates between exuberance and fragile delicacy. Melancholic serenity and a cheerfulness reminiscent of the Czardas meet dark wistfulness. This mature, highly exciting late work by Brahms also seems like a retrospective on an entire century of music. Brahms draws on important composers of the 19th century. The themes of his quin...