In 1887 Brahms was only 54, yet for ten years he had been cultivating the hoary image of a much older man. His music too constantly harked back to earlier forms and styles. This Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra represented a sort of return to the Concerto Grosso of the Baroque era, both for the choice of the solo instruments and for the dense polyphonic writing of the outer movements. The Stabat Mater is a 13th century poem of Franciscan origin which contemplates the suffering of Mary at the sight of the crucified Christ; a scene which is somewhat dubious from a historical point of view (it is to be found only in St. John's Gospel), yet undeniably effective as on expression of the paradoxical combination of suffering and hope which characterizes the Passion story.