The Willoughby String Quartet:
Louis Willoughby (violin); Clayton Hare (viola); Max Gilbert (viola);
Peter Beavan (violoncello)
The key of C minor seems to have appealed to Brahms whenever he wanted to express emotions of a tragic character. In the C minor String Quartet though still adhering to the classical design of sonata form, Brahms's treatment is much fuller and freer, and, with the exception of the third movement, the thematic material is closely related throughout, since it is for the most part derived from the first theme of the first movement. This initial theme, like so many of Brahms's tunes, is based on the notes of the common chord (C minor). Surging upwards on the first violin, it immediately defines the tense and stormy mood of the whole movement.