Johaness Brahms: String Sextet Op. 18

There are some sextets for strings composed before this work by Johannes Brahms, but there are not many. Luigi Boccherini composed some. There is one of Ignaz Pleyel, another of Ignacy Dobrzyński and another of Louis Spohr. But just after Brahms some other relevant composers like Dvořák, Tchaikovski, Reger, Schönberg or Korngold seemed to find a particular attraction in this formation, made up of two violins, two violas and two violoncellos. Brahms composed this first sextet in 1860, organized in four movements. Popularly known as the "sextet of spring", the two initial movements have a markedly pastoral air. But the general background of the work reflects other realities. Brahms had broken his relationship with his fiancee, Agathe von Siebold, whom he would call his only love, beyond the platonic relationship he had with Clara Wieck. He also began to be involved in the controversies that would face the formalist German musicians with the renovating current represented by Wagner and Liszt. In this context, this sextet is characterized by a remarkable simplicity, which does not prevent an energy and a nobility, fully developed by Les Dissonances ensemble.

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