The Horn Trio, op. 40, may be regarded as specially individualised in style, and if one of a composer’s works more than another, may be spoken of as revealing the man himself, this trio certainly seems to do so with Brahms. There is a dignified simplicity and _al fresco_-like charm about the commencement of the work, which, with here and there a touch of sombreness, continues until we reach the scherzo, a busy movement alive with bright and joyous hunting-horn effects. It is, however, in the “Adagio mesto” that we find the strong individuality of the composer, and a deeply-brooding and fateful expression of feeling, which is, in a certain mood, more peculiarly a characteristic of Brahms than any other quality which he possesses. The whole work, and especially this adagio, is well worthy of sympathetic study. [Sidenote: =String Sextett in B♭=] The String Sextett in B♭, op. 18, has often been spoken of as one of the finest specimens of Brahms’s earlier compositions. One writer has called it “the most magnificent piece of chamber music that has appeared since the death of Beethoven.” Its production at Vienna in 1862 under the famous quartett leader, Hellmesberger, was followed by an outburst of enthusiasm, which was all the more remarkable seeing that prior to this the critics had received Brahms’s works with marked coldness. [Sidenote: =String Sextett in G Major=] The other String Sextett, op. 36, in G major, was also given under the same leader in the Vienna winter season of 1867, and, in the words of one report of the concert, “It is no discredit to either composer or audience that the new work was received with more astonishment than delight. The extremely elaborate polyphony, which is one of its distinguishing attributes, is probably too intricate to be comprehended by any one at a single presentation, and we may infer that the public actually did not hear the melodies for the simple reason of their abundance.” The charming second subject of the first movement (quoted below) well illustrates the latter part of this statement— [Music: BRAHMS, OP. 36.] while an examination of the score reveals a wealth of material which can only be assessed by patient and loving study. [Sidenote: =Piano Quartett in G Minor=] It was in his Piano Quartett, op. 25, in G minor, that Brahms made his first appearance in Vienna, after he took up his residence there in 1862, and although the work is now regarded as an intelligible and convincing piece of chamber music, it was at first received with strong disapprobation by the Viennese musical public. “Dull and ill-developed,” were the terms applied to the first three movements; and the last, because of its being written in Hungarian dance style, was condemned as without precedent and artistically bad. That Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven had already introduced such movements into their chamber music was either unknown to these critics, or ignored by them.