Two great European cities inspire two string chamber music masterpieces.

Tchaikovsky was bewitched by Italy, spending the long hard Russian winters south of the Alps, and this impassioned ‘souvenir’ encapsulates his delight not just of a single city, but of all Italian culture, climate and people. By contrast Strauss’ lament seems a personal elegy for not just for his beloved Munich but also for the smoking ruins of European civilisation during the dying embers of World War II. Worlds apart emotionally, these two masterpieces for string sextet are linked by some of the most sumptuous, romantic string-writing in all of the chamber music repertoire.