Cellist Mikayel Hakhnazaryan writes in the introduction of his album ‘Inner Voices’: “When you leave your homeland, you leave behind something very important that is hard to describe in words. It is that light and air which you unconsciously love, it is the smell of spring, the kindness of people under whose warm gaze you flourish and of course, the sounds of music. How lucky we musicians are to be able to collect all these precious things into one whole - into music, into melodies that are always with us in our head and heart; melodies that belong to us all, that we can reproduce and relive at any time. By leaving one country you give yourself the chance to discover another world, where new motifs and colours accompany you like a guide, in the search for your own voice and your own inner world."

Brahms keenly sensed the shadow of Beethoven, saying “You do not know what it is like, hearing his footsteps constantly behind one.” It was this towering presence that spurred the young Brahms to master his craft and establish his voice.