Johannes Brahms: String Quintet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 111

Recorded at http://www.springlightmusic.com

Vilde Frang I violin, Elina Vähälä II violin, Vladimir Bukac I viola, Yuval Gotlibovich II viola, Jian Wang cello

A visit to Italy has had a stimulating effect on many a composer. Johannes Brahms (1833-- 1897) was no exception when, on returning home in 1890, he set to work on his second String Quintet, Op. 111. In the finale, particularly, he let himself be carried away in cheerful Hungarian mood.

His contemporaries failed to recognise the Mediterranean open-mindedness and extroversion of the melodic work, and one of Brahms's champions, Eduard Hanslick, even detected signs of introspection. "Brahms appears increasingly to withdraw into himself, seems more at ease, with ever-greater assurance in the vigorous expression of simple feelings. This work is endowed with intense emotional life, without effort, without excess, without artifice!"