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 Belcea Quartet performed these works in a concert tour to some of Europe’s major venues, and called in their friends Tabea Zimmermann and Jean-Guihen Queyras for this recording. The continued popularity of the two sextets is demonstrated by their highly estimable discography; an ilustrious lineage which is carried on today by the Belcea Quartet.