String Quintet No.2 in G major Op.111
Allegro non troppo, ma con brio
Adagio
Un poco allegretto
Vivace ma non troppo presto
Brahms’ two String Quintets were the last works he wrote for multiple string ensemble, at the opposite end of the nineteenth century to the only other major work in this form since Mozart’s, Schubert’s C major Quintet. Brahms was particularly drawn to the alto register, and it is unsurprising to find him reverting to the Mozartian layout of two violins, two violas and ‘cello in preference to the additional ‘cello used by Schubert in 1828. The First Quintet, in F, was composed at the mountain resort of Bad Ischl during the summer of 1882, although strictly speaking this was not Brahms’ first essay in the form – an F minor string quintet of 1862 had been rewritten as a sonata for two pianos before ending up as the Piano Quintet, Op.34. Brahms’ Second String Quintet was also composed at Ischl, 8 years later in the summer of 1890. Brahms intended it as his swansong, saying "I have worked enough; now let the young fellows take over". He spent the summer months sorting out old sketches and ideas, and having abandoned the idea of writing a fifth symphony, tore up his remaining unfinished manuscripts and threw them into the River Traun.
Brahms was only 57 when he wrote this Quintet, and it sounds like anything but a swansong. If it is to be taken as any sort of farewell, it must be as the confident statement of a mature composer retiring at the height of his powers. But the lively finale has a certain studied nonchalance, suggesting that Brahms’ statement of resignation was not to be taken wholly seriously, and indeed the following summer he was back in Ischl writing more chamber music; the lovely sequence of works inspired by the clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld. The Quintet is, however, a major work, conceived on a symphonic scale, and contains all the hallmarks, and all the inspiration, of Brahms’ creative maturity. The first movement is in fully worked-out sonata form, music of great energy and optimism organised by a masterly compositional technique. It opens with a breadth and richness notable even by Brahms’ standards, the ‘cello striding through the texture with the rugged main theme. The second subject-group is more lyrical, opening with a gently-rocking lullaby for the two violas. The tragic but dignified second movement, consisting of a mere 82 bars, is so effortless in its expression that it creates the impression of being improvised as it goes along. Formally, it consists of a series of free meditations on the opening theme, a lament-like melody absolutely characteristic of its composer and reminiscent of similar movements in the 1st String Sextet and Third Symphony. In the third movement, Un poco Allegretto, the mood shifts again. Restless syncopations give this movement a quiet, nervous tension; when this eases off in the major-key trio section and coda the effect is highly poignant. Brahms completes his final major work in true classical style with a quick and light-hearted finale. He returns to his beloved "Hungarian" idiom with a complex but playful movement in csárdás rhythm, the shortest movement of the four but a perfect pay-off to the previous movements, of which Haydn would have been proud. While we can be eternally grateful that Brahms did not lay down his pen after composing the final bars of this Quintet, he could have left no more perfect example of his art as a final musical testament.
The Quintet was premièred in Vienna on 11th November 1890.
R.G.Bratby 2000
Copyright Classical Notes.co.uk 2000
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