Johannes Brahms
Quintet in F major for Two Violins, Two Violas, and Cello, Op. 88 (1882)

- Born May 7, 1833, in Hamburg
- Died April 3, 1897, in Vienna
- Composed in 1882
- Duration: 28 minutes

Every spring, Johannes Brahms left the city for the countryside to concentrate on composing for a stretch of several weeks. A favorite location for this occupation was the resort town of Bad Ischl, located 165 miles outside of Vienna. It was there, in 1882, that he composed his First String Quintet in F major. “You have never before had such a beautiful work from me,” Brahms declared to his publisher, Fritz Simrock. In the scope of his chamber music output, the quintet comes from a mature middle period. It exudes a pastoral mood, reflecting the month of May, when it was written. As such, it is occasionally called by the nickname, “Spring.” “One actually hears the grass growing,” the composer Hugo Wolf noted. “An enchanting emerald green envelopes this fairyland spring vision. Everything is verdant and budding.” 

Though the quintet effuses a quality of fresh springtime, it is built on echoes from past works that never made it to the stage. Brahms was incredibly perfectionistic and was known to destroy works he determined would not pass muster. This quintet rose out of the ashes of a previous attempt at an F-major quintet (it doubled the cellos) made 20 years earlier, as well as discarded exercises writing in Baroque styles, specifically gavotte and sarabande. 

The work begins with a bagpipe-like drone in the lower strings with the melody swaying gracefully above. From its first notes, the rich sound from the double viola in the middle range stands out. This is highlighted when the first viola takes center stage to introduce the second theme. In the middle section, the density intensifies, its compression making the music surge forward dramatically, teasing the return of the opening theme before robustly bringing it back. 

Unusually, the F-major quintet has only three movements, not the more typical four, which Brahms jokingly pointed out to his publisher: “Of course the quintet only has three movements—you could cut the price down on that account.” But, as Brahms also noted, “in the trio there are variations.” What he alludes to is the quirky five-section layout of the middle movement that features somewhat erratic mood shifts between three melancholic passages (based on his old sarabande) and two lively ones (from the old gavotte). That he calls the quick section the “trio” seems to indicate he conceptualized it as a traditional minuet-and-trio slow movement, but added a personal touch by playing the trio twice and with variants. Other commentators argue that extending the faster sections of the middle movement creates a sense of a phantom third movement. Phenomenally, the impression for the listener is a little of each perspective. The brief last movement is a flashy, complex intermeshing of fugue and sonata form in near perpetual motion, punctuated by full-throated, sing-along-worthy themes, concluding in high spirits. 

Program note © Kathryn Bacasmot