Brahms added the heft of a full orchestra to the variation form, and then had the nerve to make that the whole piece. What is remarkable is how the ebb and flow of each variation changes, creating different organic shapes within a strict outline.
If you think Beethoven looms large over classical music today, imagine being a young composer in 1853—just 26 years after his death—and being declared his second coming.
After the first rehearsal of Brahms’s Piano Quartet in Vienna, a notoriously grumpy violinist hugged him and said, “this is Beethoven’s heir!”
The rather dry title of Brahms’s Sechs Klavierstücke (Six Piano Pieces) conceals the enormous amount of feeling held within.
It would make sense for a viola quintet to start with the violas—but no, Brahms has the cello dive in with a wild solo across most of its range, springing across strings and punctuating with rolled chords, all while the other instruments gleam together above.
While many composers might set out to write a piano quintet, for Brahms it was simply the best ensemble in which to house a musical idea.
Brahms’s Piano Trio No. 1 is a youthful work. But the piece we hear today was revised in 1889, 35 years later, at the pinnacle of his career.