Piano Quartet in C Minor, op. 60; Johannes Brahms (G. Henle Verlag)

Piano Quartet in C minor, Op.60 for violin, viola, cello, and piano by Johannes Brahms

Includes parts and piano score. Urtext edition by Hanspeter Krellmann. Published by Henle

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) was a significant German composer whose music is often considered to represent the apex of 19th century romanticism. He aligned himself with baroque and classical traditions with his structural coherence and contrapuntal mastery, yet he was also considered a progressive in his freer treatment of dissonance, rhythm, and motivic development. His music is known for its meticulous, intelligent craft, as well as its uniquely introspective and tender emotional core.

Brahms's Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor, Op.60 had a decades-long gestation; first started in the early 1850s as his first foray in the genre, he later returned to it in 1869, before finally finishing it in 1874. Beethovenian storminess is met with Schubertian lyricism in this singularly intense entry in Brahms's chamber repertory. It is a darkly passionate work in the tragic Romantic vein, acknowledged by the Brahms to constitute an expression of Goethe's novel "Werther", a fatalist story of forbidden love. This is a likely parallel to the composer's documented unrequited love for Clara Schumann, made all the more explicit by the prominence of Robert Schumann's "Clara-motif". This premium Henle urtext edition contains critical and historical commentary. Includes parts and piano score. Advanced level, Grade 5. Weight: 0.9 lbs