ollowing: "Brahms was built on big lines and was absolutely truthful. He couldn’t tell even the ordinary conventional fib. His friends were as wax in his hands. He was as great a man as he was an artist. There was not a blot on his superb character. But he was not accustomed to restraining himself, nor with holding his tongue. If he disliked anything he would say so. Frankly, his bluntness combined with his rough manner made him appear very harsh. The following remark of some wit was current in Vienna. One evening, Brahms, on taking leave of his hostess at a party said, "kindly excuse me if I by chance have forgotten to offend one of your guests."

Like Beethoven, Brahms was a man of, often, sloppy, shabby and unkempt appearance and dress. In his work, however, he was fastidious and a perfectionist. He was horribly self critical consigning some twenty string quartets to oblivion before accepting three for publication. He was known to have quipped; "In the old days it was only my music I disliked. Now it’s the titles as well. Is all this due to vanity?" And Florence Mays, in her 1905 biography of the composer, quotes the following anecdote. "Yes gentlemen, observed [his Coblenz host] solemnly as the guests sat in almost reverential silence, inhaling the bouquet of some rare old Rauenthaler that had been reserved for the end of the repast, What Brahms is among the composers, so is this Rauenthaler among the wines. Ah, then lets have a bottle of Bach now! cried Brahms."

The f minor Piano Quintet began first as a quintet for strings, following Schubert’s instrumentation: two violins, viola, and two cellos. After completing its first version, Brahms sent the work to his friend, the renowned violinist, Joseph Joachim, for critique. Although he liked the piece at first, after rehearsing it, Joachim felt that it lacked charm and that Brahms should "mitigate the harshness of some passages." As he did most often, Brahms complied. But even after another hearing Brahms still felt the work unfinished and in need of reworking. Brahms then completely rewrote the work as a sonata for two pianos, which he, along with pianist Karl Tausig, performed in Vienna. The work was poorly received, and its lack of warmth was attributed to the employment of pianos rather than strings. Despite the negative reaction, Brahms published the work in this form as his Op. 34b. It was Clara Schumann, however who suggested that the work be recast as a quintet for piano and string quartet. Her late husband, composer Robert Schumann, an early supporter and champion of Brahms, had set the standard for this medium with his Piano Quintet in E Flat Major, Op. 44. It is in this form that this monumental work was published in 1865, and has gained a place of eminence in the chamber music repertory.

The first public performance was in Paris, with pianist Louise Langhans-Japha, on March 24, 1868 and is dedicated to Princess Anna of Hesse.

The Quintet’s first movement is dramatic and of epic scale. By contrast the second movement consists of the leisurely unfolding of a long-lined melody. The third movement scherzo is as restless and exciting a movement as there is to be found in all of Brahms. The finale returns to the large scale and drama of the first movement, as the work seems to stretch the sonorities of chamber music to the limits.