When he wrote his second String Quintet, op.111, in 1890, Brahms thought, strangely enough, that it would be his artistic testament, to be followed by "some glorious farniente, a little time between life and death". But this serene work, which disconcerted the composer's friends by its complexity and by the importance it gives to the viola, was to be succeeded by another quintet, this time with clarinet, which was inspired by Brahms's fascination with the playing of the clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld. The supreme masterpiece among his chamber works featuring the clarinet, this sublime opus 115 is undoubtedly one of the composer's most popular works.

It may seem an unlikely thing to say about a German chamber ensemble, yet the Melos Quartet of Stuttgart are more suave, more feline, than the Quartetto Italiano in the opening movement of Mozart's E flat Quartet. The former have, too, the advantage of a modern recording with a more exact stereo placing of each instrument, whereas the Philips disc is close on ten years old.

This is a reissue CD set of the 15 Schubert Quartets by the Weiner (Vienna) Konzerthaus Quartet. This 6 CD set was issued by Universal Music France in 1998. The 20-bit remastering from the original master tapes is excellent. Although these hard to find monaural Westminster label recordings date from 1950 to 1953, the sound is full and warm. The playing and performances are superb. The CD booklet notes in French and English leave something to desire. However, this CD set is worth getting your hands on while it's still available!

Bruckner's only major chamber work is given an enthusiastic reading by the Melos Quartet with the addition of Enrique Santiago on the extra viola part. The Quintet was written in 1879, during a tumultuous period in Bruckner's compositional career when he had just finished the final version of the Fifth Symphony, was about to produce the final version of the finale of the Fourth Symphony, and had just begun work on the Sixth Symphony. Most of the Quintet "sounds" like Bruckner, but there are several unusual features, and the fourth movement is one of the composer's finest.