Fanny Mendelssohn and Johannes Brahms, both born in Hamburg, maintained close ties with this Hanseatic city famous for its pianos. Appropriately, the piano proved crucial to these composers’ respective outputs. Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio is the gem in her known chamber music output—several of her works were attributed to her brother Felix. As for Brahms’ Piano Quartet, it draws heavily on the influence of Schubert, for whom the keyboard was also a creative anchor.