[Kathy in Alaska]

Wow...Brahms...that sounds like a good concert!

What instruments were in the sextet?

[Publius]

2 violins, 2 viola and 2 cellos. Sextet writing is tricky because the group of instruments is bottom-heavy.

In the Opus 18 Sextet in B-flat Major, Brahms has all the instruments playing all the time, so he keeps the violins in their upper registers so they can be distinguished from the other four.

In the Opus 36 Sextet in G Major, written seven years later, Brahms only has the instruments play when needed, so he doesn't have to push the violins into the upper reaches.

It's two very different solutions to the formal problem of sextet writing, and Brahms got it right on the second try.