String Quartets in c minor and a minor op. 51-Brahms had already composed over 20 String quartets (he confessed to a friend that he had burnt all of that ?stuff?) before he finally presented his Opus 51 to the public. In the end only threesurviving works managed to withstand his high self-criticism; numerous layers of corrections bear witness to his struggle with each detail. We are now publishing the two passionate dark Quartets Op. 51 separatelyfrom the rather more lively Opus 67. The basis for this edition is the volume in the New Complete Edition of Brahms? works published in 2004 by Henle for which previously missing sources in a Swiss bequest wereconsulted for the first time.

String Quartets Book X op. 76 Nr. 1-6-?Masterly and full of new ideas?: thus the Swedish ambassadorial secretary Silverstolpe when he first heard these pieces in 1797. Haydn?s friend the music historian Charles Burney reported in 1799 that he had ?nevertaken greater pleasure in instrumental music?. Our new edition of these six works including the famous ?Emperor Quartet? follows the text of the complete edition prepared by the Haydn Institute in Cologne. Boththe study edition (HN 9214) and the set of parts (HN 214) have highly informative notes on the source materials and alternative readings. Fold-out pages in the parts allow for optimum page turns.