Faure - Piano Quartet 1 [Beaux Arts Trio]

It's a shame that the Beaux Arts Trio didn't bring the two Faure Piano Quartets onto one disc, it would have been so much more the logical coupling, but i must admit that the Piano Trio is a lovely work also, i feel that Faure is somewhat of a neglected Composer, seems to be such a long way behind Ravel and Debussy, and yet his Chamber Music is a delight, very individual, and this is a nice disc highlighting two lovely works. 

The Beaux Arts Trio were formed in 1955, and finished in 2008, over 50 years together, only the Pianist Manahem Pressler has been with the Trio the whole time, they recorded this disc in 1988, i like the booklet front cover [by Christian Steiner], a picture that captures all three of the instruments of the Trio, nice dark background which highlights the faces, and the lettering well positioned. 

Wow i enjoyed this, esecially the second movement, somehow i get the feeling Faure took the lead from both Ravel And Debussy's String Quartets, the second movement of each are full of pizzicato, and that's what he uses here, it's a very playful movement, the almost mechanical 'beat' of the opening pizzicato strings are lovely and sonorous [0:00-0:06], and when the piano enters [0:06-0:14], it's with a gorgeous rippling effect, the strings alternate with bowing the tune, and then pizzicato in the background as the piano plays the tune [0:00-0:31], a great first half minute, it sets the tone for the whole movement, 

Here's the second movement being played on YouTube.

Faure - Piano Quartet 2 [Roge/Quatuor Ysaye] 

Faure is not greatly represented in my Blog, just 4 entries, and only two of them represent Faure discs, but his contribution to the piano repertoire is immeasurable, yes he lacks Symphonies and Concertos, and his big thing seems to be the Requiem, but his Chamber Music makes quiet strides, and breaks the Ravel / Debussy dominance of the French repertoire, plus he's so unique, there's nothing quite like him. 

Pascal Roge is French, now 60 years old, he recorded this work in 1996, i love these Decca Doubles [buy one get one free in essence!], they're so useful, and especially with Faure's Piano Quartets / Quintets they work out a treat, the photograph looks like some lavender fields in France, lovely and appropriate. 

Here's Gloria Chien and friends playing the second movement on YouTube.

Brahms - Piano Quartet 2 [Domus] 

Another one of Brahms's Piano Quartets from this excellent set by Domus, a month ago i wrote about his First Quartet [15th July 2011], now it's time to turn towards the Second, the Second Quartet is the only one of the three that is written in a major key [in A Major], it's also the longest of the three [nearly 50 minutes on this recording], all of the movements last more than ten minutes, the First Quartet was almost orchestral in nature [Schoenberg made an orchestral version of it], the Second Quartet is more low key and personal. 

The Domus Piano Quartet are a group from England, they get their name from a curious portable dome that they used in their concerts, they were established in 1979 and then disbanded in 1995, the booklet artwork is a painting by Henri Le Sidaner called 'Le Dimanche' [The Sunday], usually i shy away from paintings as CD covers, but this is actually a lovely painting, wonderful light coming in from the back of the girls, a really nice disc set to own. 

The huge first movement Allegro Non Troppo is the best, the opening tune is delightful, something Dvorak would have done, a lovely singing melody for solo piano [0:00-0:12], but taken up by the strings [0:20-0:30], and eventually hammered out by the piano [0:58+], a lovely triptych of presentations, there's something really Slavic about the whole thing, and this whole section explodes in again four minutes in [4:04-4:58+], i'm sure it's actually an exposition repeat, and it's a lovely restatement, there's another restatement two thirds of the way through [10:40+], and again as a sort of coda near the end [15:02+], this time played delicately in the treble, with tinkling piano, everything revolves around this theme, a lovely idea from Brahms.

Here's Ralf Gothoni and friends playing the first movement on YouTube.

Brahms - Piano Quartet 1 [Domus] 

Brahms's chamber music contribution is huge, and he has turned his hand to most expressions within this form, i'm still coming to terms with some of his compositions [the String Quartets for one], but others have been long favourites [the Violin Sonatas for instance], the Piano Quartets reside somewhere in the middle, i'm certainly familiar enough with them, and yet they're still elusive as firm friends, so it was good to delve into this work today, to cement this more deeply in my heart.

Domus was formed in 1979, and disbanded in 1994, there are String Quartet ensembles in abundance, and Piano Trio ensembles aplenty too, but Domus almost had the Piano Quartet medium to themselves, and they recorded Brahms, Faure, Dvorak, Mendelssohn, and Mozart to name their major works, the front cover for this re-issue is a painting by Henri Le Sidaner called 'Le Dimanche' [The Sunday], the original is an oblong painting of twelve girls in discussion after Church i take it, and a middle square is reproduced here of the main group of five girls, and in the link i have provided, you can see the truncated pieces left and right, which create a greater artistic balance, a wonderfully backlit piece, looks like the evening sunshine, i don't usually like conventional artwork on front cover booklets, much preferring photographs, but this really is lovely, this work was recorded in 1987, originally recorded as two separate discs, but conveniently brought together as a much prized set here.

This whole Piano Quartet is wonderful, very symphonic in many ways, no wonder Schoenberg made an Orchestral version of it, i liked the third movement Andante con Moto the best, its opening is achingly beautiful, full of Brahms's autumn / evening glow, the movement is written in E Flat Major, creating a certain nobility, the very opening is repeated to wonderful effect [1:19+], the movement is slow, but not necessarily always serene, there's outbursts aplenty too, Brahms completely changes tack a third of the way in, with a skippy march like rhythm [3:43-4:33], the piano in the treble, while the strings play a jumpy morse code stuttering, very effective indeed, and somehow it fits in with what went before, and then a louder forte version of the same [4:33-5:58], now it sounds seriously angry, i like the way the music is repeated for emphasis [5:07+], sounds even better the second time around, right at the end there's time for a rhapsodic version of the opening [8:53-9:22], strings high in the treble, piano tolling away in the bass, it's an inspiring movement, made all the more beautiful by a walk in the park while i was listening to it!.

Here's Domus playing the third movement Andante Con Moto on YouTube.