Brahms: String Sextets, Arranged for Piano Trio by Theodor Kirchner

Close to the Schumanns and admired by Mendelssohn and Wagner, Theodor Kirchner (1823–1903) was an accomplished pianist, organist and composer in his own right. His lifelong friendship with Brahms began when the two men met at the spa town of Baden-Baden in 1865. Robert Schumann had already mentioned him in the same breath as Brahms in the influential 1853 article which effectively launched Brahms’s career.

Composer: Johannes Brahms
Artists: Matteo Fossi piano
Duccio Ceccanti violin
Vittorio Ceccanti cello

While Kirchner pursued his own, less celebrated career as a composer, he found a reliable subsidiary source of income in making the kind of arrangements through which many listeners made their first encounters with larger-scale works. He seems to have specialised in doing this for Brahms, who regarded him as an outstanding craftsman in this respect. Most of Kirchner’s arrangements were for pianists, either solo or in duet: the notable exceptions being these piano- trio arrangements of the two string sextets which number among Brahms’s earliest successes in the field of chamber music.

The First Sextet, Op.18, dates from five years earlier, premiered on 20 October 1860 in Hanover by an ensemble led by Joseph Joachim and published by Simrock in 1862. Here we find the beardless Brahms in excelsis, the 20-something composer always building up towards but cautiously skirting those perilous peaks of instrumental music which Beethoven conquered and defined in the string quartet and symphony. Falling between the two, the First Sextet in particular behaves like a veiled symphony, much as the First Serenade, Op.15, had flexed symphonic muscles a few months earlier.

Simrock commissioned Kirchner to produce these piano-trio transcriptions in 1883, and they met with the composer’s wholehearted approval: according to Brahms, Kirchner had ‘executed [them] superbly’. Kirchner replied that the new version of the sextets ‘would be a welcome gift for trio players’. The correspondence between the two men testifies not only to the warmth of their friendship but to the faith and trust placed by Brahms in Kirchner’s skills as an arranger. Brahms continued to recommend Kirchner’s services to Simrock, for transcriptions of his own and other composers’ music. He wrote in August 1891: ‘Would you consider replacing Keller with Kirchner for four-hand arrangements?... His elegant, buoyant style of writing would be much finer than the empty stiffness we now have.’  

Recorded October 2018 in Perugia, Italy.

Tracklist:
String Sextet No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 18:
00:00:00 I. Allegro ma non troppo
00:13:48 II. Andante ma moderato
00:22:52 III. Scherzo
00:26:04 IV. Rondo. Poco allegretto e grazioso
String Sextet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 36:
00:36:02 I. Allegro non troppo
00:49:28 II. Scherzo
00:56:27 III. Poco adagio
01:04:49 IV. Poco allegro

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[BrilliantClassics]

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Tracklist:

00:00:00 String Sextet No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 18: I. Allegro ma non troppo
00:13:48 String Sextet No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 18: II. Andante ma moderato
00:22:52 String Sextet No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 18: III. Scherzo
00:26:04 String Sextet No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Op. 18: IV. Rondo. Poco allegretto e grazioso
00:36:02 String Sextet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 36: I. Allegro non troppo
00:49:28 String Sextet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 36: II. Scherzo
00:56:27 String Sextet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 36: III. Poco adagio
01:04:49 String Sextet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 36: IV. Poco allegro

[Carlos-qzul]

Fabuleux, tout y est : ces oeuvres du grand Brahms, que je ne connaissais pas, ce trio de haut vol, à la complicité merveilleuse, l'enregistrement limpide et tonique...👏👏👏

[judyclark]

I do like this, grateful you gave us the story behind this arrangement, of the relationship of the composer of this to Brahms himself: or one may have feared it would somehow be a 'reduction' of the power of the original sextet of Brahms. 🙏 I don't believe Johannes B would be resentful nor feel robbed, but rather that he inspired another genius to play with his original composition and recreate it in another form. It is not the SAME, of course, but the wonderful power of Brahms original piece is rendered beautifully, though differently. It's like a profound conversation among friends, collaborators, enriching one another's minds and Souls. Thank you for posting this.🙏 I shall share it gladly with others: there are some precious benefits of even our beleaguered 'social media' drenched culture.

[anigiuran]

I like Brahms ' music! Thank you Briliant Classics for this beautiful musical gift !!! 😊😊😊❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[sandromancini]

Il famoso II movimento, "andante ma moderato", al min 13 circa: interpretato dal trio con straordinaria intensità: un BRAVO a tutti e tre

[HiNature]

It's always a joy to watch your videos. They bring me peace, serenity.

[notaire]

Wunderschöne Interpretation dieser beiden perfekt komponierten und fein arrangierten Meisterwerke im veränderlichen Tempo mit klarem doch warmherzigem Klang des Klaviers, seidigem doch gut phrasiertem Ton der Violine und tiefem Ton des Violoncellos. Die intime und perfekt entsprechende Miteinanderwirkung zwischen den drei Virtuosen ist wahrhaft eindrucksvoll. Faszinierend vom Anfang bis zum Ende!

[hannawagenknecht]

This String Sextets are wonderful Player and i Love Brahms, and I'm Happy to hear this music 😌❤!

[judyclark]

But you must also love the performance of Norbert Brainin with 5 other grand colleagues/masters playing the original sextet

[yurastoyan]

Необходимо отметить сразу, что Брамс не обладал выдающимся мелодическим талантом. И этот факт совершенно справедливо в свое время отмечал Чайковский, признанный во всем мире мелодический гений. Именно этот факт делает всегда музыку Брамса однообразной, не интересной, мало выразительной, скучной, не убедительной. По какому то странному недоразумению Брамс оказался в ряду признанных гениев музыкальной композиции. Это феноменальный, и с моей точки зрения мало обьянимый факт. Такое впечатление, что его, довольно заурчдное творчество, кем то кусственно поднято на высоту, которой оно не заслуживает😮.

[yurastoyan]

Брамс, это не композитор вообще, это какое то странное недоразумение, каким то непостижимым образом водруженное на вершину музыкального олимпа. Не заслуживают уважения исполнители которые так усердно, с упорством, достойным лучшего применения продолжают исполнять его плоскую музыку, понапрсну тратя свое время на то, что по поосту недостойно сколько нибудь серьезного внимания, и отвлекая внимание неискушенных слушателей от достойнейших образцов Высокой музыки😮.