London Philharmonic Orchestra

If symphonies are like big-screen blockbusters, chamber music is like a composer’s personal diary: thoughts and feelings that are too special to share with just anyone. Emotions run deep and strong in Brahms’s haunting Horn Trio, written as he mourned the death of his mother. But in Schubert’s hugely popular Trout Quintet, they bubble over with joy. Schubert wrote this piece for friends on holiday, and you can tell – its glittering, easy-going sunshine is the perfect complement to Brahms’s twilit poetry. Beautiful melodies in abundance ... there’s a reason why this is probably the world’s favourite piece of chamber music.