Tonight Celia grabbed a box set that was hiding in the back of the shelves of the complete Brahms chamber music. The box is an 11 CD set put out by Philips, and has some very nice recordings on it. Performances are by the Beaux Arts Trio, Janos Starker, Quartetto Italiano and Arthur Grumiaux. Mostly analog recordings from the 60’s and 70’s, which I am perfectly fine with (I still think this period represents a prime time for classical recordings, both technically and performer wise).

Funny thing is, I think I forgot I had this set. I probably moved it to the back because I do have other recordings of the Piano Quintet, Cello Sonatas and Violin Sonatas that I like quite a bit. And in general, though I am familiar with Brahms’ chamber music, it never quite grabbed me in the same way that Beethoven’s did (or Dvorak or Tchaikovsky for that matter). The textures often feel heavy handed to me, a little trying on my ears. However I realize that this is more the memory of someone in his mid-20s (and still discovering classical music) then it is my current ears. So as I saw Celia grab this set tonight I told myself that I would sit down with the scores and go through most of these pieces again. I’m curious to see how my perception of them has changed. I have the C minor Piano Quartet on right now, and I can already tell that I’m hearing things differently. And a big part of this project as a whole was rediscovering and revisiting music that I have. I think I have a weekend of Brahms ahead of me.

And regarding the picture above… I totally would have had coffee with him.