Brahms was slow in writing his first two string quartets. We know from a letter from Joseph Joachim that a C-minor quartet was in progress in 1865, but it may not have been the same work that would become Opus 51 No. 1 in 1873. Four years before publication, however, in 1869, we know for certain that the two quartets were complete enough to be played through. But the composer remained unsatisfied. Years passed. New practice runs then occurred in Munich, probably in June 1873, and Brahms ventured south of the city to the small lakeside town of Tutzing for a summer respite. There, with the Würmsee (as Lake Starnberg was then called) and the Bavarian Prealps as backdrop, he put the finishing touches on the two quartets.

Date of composition 1873
Premiered 1873, December 11th in Vienna, Austria
First published 1873
Type String Quartet
Tonality C Minor
Catalogue Op. 51/1
Instruments Viola
Cello
2x Violin
Autotranslations beta Johannes Brahms: Quatuor à cordes n°1 en do mineur, Op. 51/1
Johannes Brahms: Quartetto d'archi n. 1 in do minore, Op. 51/1
Johannes Brahms: Streichquartett Nr. 1 c-moll, Op. 51/1