Prior to Brahms there existed only three outstanding piano quartets, two by Mozart and one by Schumann. Other than these there are only Beethoven's Op. 75, an arrangement of his piano and wind quintet, and Mendelssohn's op. 1, 2 and 3 dating from his early teens. Since Brahms the genre of the Romantic piano quartet exists in the two quartets of Faure and Dvorak as outstanding examples.
The first two of Brahms' piano quartets, op. 25 and 26, date from his youthful period when Brahms was turning out luxuriant pieces on a vast scale such as the First Piano Concerto in d minor, the Scherzo in E-flat for piano and the grand F minor piano sonata.
The grand quartet of op. 25 has always stood above the others. Arnold Schoenberg even orchestrated op. 25 for orchestra, believing it was more orchestral than chamber in concept. The op. 26 is a work of great concentration — to some extent more abstract and less musically poetic and literary than op. 25 and those works that follow. Indeed, after breaking musical boundaries, most composers who write large-scale works often return to a more concentrated form. Beethoven did so between the 3rd and 5th symphonies and between his 7th and 9th symphonies. Symphonies number 4 and 8 are small and less ambitious in style, form and concept. The same is true in the string quartets, and Brahms is no exception. Between his op. 25 and op. 60 piano quartets (op. 60 written some 15 years later) op. 26 stands as the central pillar, focused, concentrated and certainly more introspective.
Brahms himself played the piano parts of op. 25 and 26 at the first concerts he gave in Vienna, in the fall of 1862. Their extremely favorable reception there had much to do with his eventually settling in the Austrian capital. When they were first tried a member of the quartet exclaimed, "This is Beethoven's heir!"
The first movement is a compositional tour de force, demonstrating Brahms' gift for continual development of small musical ideas. It is the musical manipulation, the combinations themselves, their constant wanderings into related or foreign tonalities, their bold harmonizations, the contrasts, the intense contrapuntal work that makes the movement not only interesting, but also a masterpiece. In the second movement Brahms created a large rondo in which he again weaves the musical tapestry from small, concentrated motifs. The Scherzo is classic, built in three sections; Scherzo-Trio-Scherzo. It is a wonderful movement, full of chromatic spark and wit. The huge finale is in keeping with his concept of broad and large-scale formal structures. It cannot be said that this quartet invites orchestration as the g minor quartet does, but it sounds orchestral nevertheless, owing mainly to the way Brahms handled the piano part. And as any great composer, he demands the utmost from the strings as well.
-- Kendall Durelle Briggs
