"I was in a blissful mood. I have seldom written notes with such pleasure; the notes penetrated me lovingly and softly, that I was thoroughly cheerful." One probably associates such phrases less with Johannes Brahms – and yet the 27-year-old composer uttered them in connection with his preoccupation with the second serenade. Like the first string sextet written shortly thereafter, it is one of the Romantic composer's more light-hearted works. Both, however, are not only melodious and emotional, but also nuanced in terms of composition and sound. And when the Camerata RCO plays them in slender instrumentation, both also preserve their transparent-intimate, chamber-music character.