Brahms responded musically to his mother’s death in 1865 with two significant works. Already sketching what would become the “German Requiem,” he added an angelic fifth movement for soaring soprano and also composed a trio for the unprecedented combination of horn, violin, and piano. Why such an unusual grouping? Because these were the three instruments he had learned as a boy being instructed at home. Further, the horn trio includes a folk song that Brahms learned at his mother’s knee and incorporates a dirge like third movement in sharp contrast to the general mood of conviviality.

Brahms also chose to write for the old-fashioned valveless horn even though the modern instrument had been well-established by this time. His father was a horn player and he, like Richard Strauss, often expressed his memories of home by writing for the instrument. Although all but a very few specialists now interpret this music on a contemporary instrument, one can hear the more primitive open harmonies of the natural horn and, in the finale of this trio, a certain relativism of pitch reminiscent of the horn of the 18th-century hunt.

The horn trio was the final work on the program Thursday evening as New York Philomusica opened its season at the Merkin Concert Hall. Sadly for the audience, this great piece did not receive a great performance. The hornist, A. Robert Johnson, was obviously having an off night, marring the fine effort of violinist Jesse Mills and pianist Rieko Aizawa. I expect some waywardness from this most difficult of instruments, but this was simply beyond the pale. Notes were missed, intonation was suspect, and entire phrases were simply absent.

Clarinetist Igor Begelman led two much more satisfying realizations of modern British essays for his instrument and string quartet. We have all heard similar pieces to this one by Michael Berkeley: mysterious opening, followed by a perpetuum mobile, and then a jazzy section – the contemporary sonata form, if you will. But a particularly thoughtful ending movement left me with the impression that this was music of substance, well performed. The second clarinet quintet on the program, by Iain Hamilton, was less predictable, but also less engaging, relying on post-Webern cliches like pointillistic flutter-tonguing for that signature contemporary effect. These five excellent players made me wish that the last scheduled item on the agenda was the Opus 115 of Brahms rather than the Opus 40.