Brahms: String Sextet No. 2 | R. Capuçon, A. Saulière, G. Caussé, B. Muthelet, G. Capuçon, C. Hagen

How to work through a love story in music - this is the subtext to Brahms' String Sextet No. 2, Op. 36. It is performed here by Renaud Capuçon (violin), Aki Saulière (violin), Gérard Caussé (viola), Béatrice Muthelet (viola), Gautier Capuçon (cello), and Clemens Hagen (cello). The concert at the Bel Air Festival under the motto Métamorphoses took place on September 3, 2010 at the Espace Malraux in the French city of Chambéry.

(00:00) I. Allegro non troppo
(14:22) II. Scherzo: Allegro non troppo – Presto giocoso
(21:42) III. Poco adagio
(31:18) IV. Poco allegro

Love was a thorny problem for Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897). At the age of twenty, the as yet unknown Hamburg composer met the famous Schumanns. Composer Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856) helped make Brahms famous and supported his musical career. Brahms however fell in love with Robert's wife pianist and composer Clara Schumann (1819 - 1896).

In the spring of 1854, Robert was admitted to an asylum after a suicide attempt. He died there in the summer of 1856. During Robert Schumann's two-year stay at the sanatorium, Brahms moved into Schumann's family home, played house husband and surrogate father to the Schumann children and often visited his sick friend instead of Clara. It is still unclear today whether there was an actual love affair between Brahms and Clara beyond the shared apartment, which was already considered scandalous at the time. The two parted ways at the end of 1856 and their love turned into a lifelong friendship. However, there is much to suggest that Clara Schumann was the love of Johannes Brahms' life.

In 1858, Brahms met the soprano Agathe von Siebold (1835 - 1909) in Göttingen. The two began a love affair and became engaged. But only a few months later, Brahms dumped his new love. He wrote to her, "I love you!... But I can't wear chains." Clara Schumann was aware of the liaison and somewhat jealously mocked it. In summer 1864, Brahms traveled to Göttingen to rekindle his love for Agathe - but she had long since moved on to another man. Brahms composed the String Sextet No. 2 in G major as a memento of their brief love story. The chamber music masterpiece was composed between September 1864 and May 1865.

Brahms is said to have said of the Sextet in G major that it represented his final inner farewell to Agathe von Siebold. And so the North German composer translated the first name of his ex into music right in the first movement: After an opening characterized by a truly lovely theme, the hauntingly intoned motif abruptly appears three times in a row in the high register of the first violin: a-g-a-h(b)-e (Germans use ``H'' to represent B natural and ``B'' to represent B flat). In addition, the second violin and first cello play d several times, which is phonetically closest to the musically unrepresentable sound t (2:45). This very demanding “Agathe theme” stands in stark contrast to the otherwise sweet and playful mood of the first movement.

Aside from hidden references in the music, Brahms' 2nd String Sextet is an absolute highlight of the chamber music repertoire. It represents a clear and transparent voice leading of the six string instruments, which are given equal treatment. In compact structures, the impulses move through all the voices as if in a natural flow. Brahms's String Sextet Op. 36 is clearly on a par with the much more popular genre of the string quartet.

The musicians:
Renaud Capuçon (violin)
Aki Saulière (violin)
Gérard Caussé (viola)
Béatrice Muthelet (viola)
Gautier Capuçon (cello)
Clemens Hagen (cello)

© 2010 Karl More Productions / Les Rencontres Artistiques de Bel-Air / Mezzo

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