Eduard Franck finished the fair copy of his second string sextet score in December 1884. The piece can thus be described as a typical late work, also evident from its wistful retrospective mood.

The sextet’s D-major first movement has a concise main theme moving to an expressive secondary theme whereas its final movement is a polyphonic masterpiece: This full, yet transparent movement integrates all the characteristics of the preceding movements in a rhythmically elastic, richly melodic broader context that in the end attains serenity and reconciliation.