String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111

Brahms's Second String Quintet (1890) is among his most exuberant late works, written in the same summer as the famous Clarinet Quintet Op. 115. Brahms composed it as a farewell to chamber music before rediscovering his creative voice through the clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld. The first movement opens with an astonishing outburst of cello melody over swirling upper strings. The slow movement's reflective intermezzo and the finale's Hungarian spirit round out a work of mature joy and autumnal warmth.