‘Extraordinarily lively playing’, is what the Engegård Quartet delivered according to the press. The Norwegian foursome brings out the lyrical and serene Brahms in his Second String Quartet, composed in the summer of 1873. This music echoes the German romantic tradition and Brahms’ great admiration for Beethoven. Here we do hear the youthful Brahms before the iconic beard. Joseph Joachim’s quartet played the premiere. Brahms incorporated Joachim’s motto ‘Frei Aber Einsam’ into his music, but gave it his own twist: ‘Frei Aber Froh’. Both the note sequence f-a-e and f-a-f feature prominently in the piece.

Romance in the morning, who wouldn’t get out of bed for that? In fact, it gets super-romantic during the morning series focusing on Tchaikovsky, Schumann and Brahms. The palette of these 19th-century composers offers a sampling of emotions, with a golden glow on sixteen strings.