Don't be a silly brass player, listen to Brahms String Q*tets

I'll be the first to admit that I was a brass snob. The whole time I was in music school and in orchestras I was most interested in music that had brass instruments, in particular French Horns. While this is probably a somewhat natural tendency, it led me to overlook huge bodies of classical repertoire. Thankfully I'm slowly discovering these deficiencies in my education, and reveling in the sense of discovery.

The Quartets, Quintets and Sextets of Johannes Brahms are one of my favorite new discoveries. If you're a fan of the Brahms Symphonies, or his piano music, or anything else he wrote for that matter, and don't know the string works, run, don't walk, to your nearest CD selling outlet and treat yourself. The playing on the Amadeus Quartet recording is lush and emotional.

Here's a small taste. The first and second themes from the G major op. 111 Quintet.