2 in G major, Opus 36 was composed during the years of 1864–1865 (although it drew on material from earlier times) and published by the firm of Fritz Simrock.
[1] The work is scored for two violins, two violas, and two celli, and has four movements:[2] Brahms did most of the composition in the comfortable country surroundings of Lichtental, near Baden-Baden.
The sextet includes a reference to the first name of Agathe von Siebold (to whom he had been briefly engaged some six years previously) in the first movement, bars 162–168, with the notes a-g-a-h-e.[3][4] The sextet is characterized by the exotic-sounding opening of its first movement, by innovative chord structures, and by its many contrasts, both technical and melodic.
[5] Swedish composer Kurt Atterberg arranged the sextet for string orchestra[6] in 1939.
The first movement of this sextet is prominent in the last sequence of Bertrand Blier's 1979 film Buffet froid.