These quartets incorporate some of the technique Brahms developed in the Quartets, Op. 64, and the Neue Liebeslieder, Op. 65. The scoring for the four voices, particularly in the first, is imaginative and diverse, switching between solo, dialogue, and ensemble singing with apparent ease. The accompaniments are likewise colorful and interesting, incorporating many subtle points of tone painting. These four quartets are paired tonally and emotionally into two groups of two.

"O schöne Nacht" (O Lovely Night). In E major, this romantic Nocturne (it was originally titled Notturno) evokes starlight, the moon, and the song of a nightingale.

"Spätherbst" (Late Autumn). This gloomy and resigned piece in E minor is the antithesis, emotionally of the prior quartet. Fall's colors are evoked in the accompaniment, while the voices sing of closure and ending.

"Abendlied" (Evening Song). This quiet and ethereal quartet returns to the romantic world of night and the spiritual and haunting power of sleep.

"Warum?" (Why?). The opening measures resolve the F major of the prior quartet to the B flat major of this one, while also dispelling its mood with an almost neo-Baroque style in the opening measures. This dance-like song is about music's power to unite the divine and the human, bringing the set to an optimistic close.

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