Brahms was an accomplished pianist, whose output for the piano spanned his entire life. In addition to his solo works he made four-hand piano arrangements of many of his orchestral and vocal scores, to give them greater accessibility. String Quintet No. 2 was written near the end of the composer’s life, while Piano Quartet No. 1 was composed thirty years before. Both are effective in two-piano versions, the latter with its Hungarian finale and the former with its orchestral textures clarified in piano reduction.