Composer of the Week - Johannes Brahms - Singing in the Rain

Everyone knows that Brahms struggled with his First Symphony for years - terrified of failing to live up to the great Beethoven. Much less well-known is that he tore his hair out over the other great genre dominated by his hero - the String Quartet - quite literally wallpapering his bedroom with his failed attempts. In the third programme of this series Donald Macleod takes us through two movements from Brahms's rarely-performed and oft-maligned First String Quartet, as well as a complete performance of his beautiful and lyrical first Violin Sonata, inspired by thoughts of his great lost love, Clara Schumann, among the falling rain.