Romantic Piano Quartets

Piano Quartet No.3 in C Minor, Op.60 “Werther”

by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

• Allegro non troppo
• Scherzo – Allegro
• Andante
• Finale – Allegro comodo

Johannes Brahms is regarded as one of the most important and influential composers of the Romantic era. His music is harmonically rich and melodious, and his chamber music is most beloved. He began early drafts of the Piano Quartet in C minor in 1855-6, laid it aside, then significantly revised it two decades later. The final version emerged in 1875 and premiered later that year with Brahms at the piano. It was published the following year. It has been nicknamed the “Werther” due to references Brahms made of its dark emotional likeness to Goethe’s famous novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther (1787), which tells a tragic tale of a triangular relationship and unrequited love. Undoubtedly, the parallel of this story to Brahms’ own life gave inspiration to this passionate work. His intense relationship with Robert and Clara Schumann and his love interest in Clara were at their height in 1855, as he helped the Schumann family in the face of Robert’s declining mental health.

The brooding introduction of the opening Allegro features a reiterating two-note descending motive thought to sound the word “Clara”, almost like a sigh. The first theme then interrupts, urgent and tragic, in contrast to a more lyrical second theme. The Scherzo maintains the dark energy of the first movement in a relentless, galloping rhythm, with a middle section developing ideas from the first. The music of the Andante is sumptuous and expansive, banishing the darkness of the first two movements. The cello gives us a rapturous melody later joined by the violin in a tender love duet. The quartet concludes with a muscular Finale, a swirling and restless drive of musical ideas which blend to form a rich tapestry of sound, unwinding at the last to acceptance and possibly, peace.

Piano Quartet in C Minor, Op.13

by Richard Strauss (1864-1949)

• Allegro
• Scherzo – Presto
• Andante
• Finale – Vivace

Richard Strauss is best known for his operas and sprawling tone poems. Yet in his early years, he began his creative life with a significant chamber music chapter; the Piano Quartet in C Minor is considered his greatest chamber work. Traditionally trained, with Mozart and Mendelssohn held up as models, Strauss discovered Brahms after he left home for Berlin. Under this influence, he began this quartet when he was just nineteen, completing it on New Year’s Day 1885, by then age twenty. He was not to meet his hero Brahms in person until later that year. The work premiered on December 8, 1885 with Strauss at the piano and was favourably received. The following year, it won first place (out of twenty-four entries) in a piano quartet competition. The entire work is steeped in the grand magnitude of Brahms, yet delivered with the fiery virtuosity of the young Strauss.

The opening Allegro is the most Brahmsian of the four movements, full-textured and massive in scale with pronounced dramatic contrasts. The Scherzo is propelled by dark, restless energy and skittish rhythms dissolving into a flowing, lyrical middle section. The Andante offers the calm centerpiece of the quartet, a leisurely and luxurious unfolding of an introspective journey. The passionate Finale is a collage of short ideas tumbling together, dazzling and exuberant.