Music Chamber

Allegro non troppo  ~ Scherzo. Allegro ~ Andante ~ Finale. Allegro comodo

 

The piano quartet was not a popular form in the 19th century. Mozart had left two such works, whose excellence may have daunted subsequent composers. Beethoven composed a set of three in his early teens which he never published (they are codified collectively as WoO 36). Schubert added a double bass to give us his well beloved "Trout" Quintet, but Schumann, Dvořák and Fauré each left us a pair of piano quartets, and Brahms composed three which firmly established this combination of instruments in the chamber-music hierarchy. Brahms conceived all three of his contributions to the genre when he was still in his twenties. The first two—No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25, and No. 2 in A major, Op. 26—were composed in 1861 and '62, while No. 3 in C minor was actually begun as early as 1855 but was not completed until 20 years later, when it was published as Op. 60. The period in which Brahms began sketching this work was a very difficult time for him and his friends Robert and Clara Schumann. Robert had been confined in a mental asylum; Brahms did his best to provide moral support for Clara and her children, but his own emotions were extremely strained. In a letter to a friend at the time, in fact, he described the first movement of this work as a sort of musical corollary to the suicidal desperation of Goethe's Werther. Brahms did not share that remark with Clara, however, who found the movement simply underactivated. That could not be said of the scherzo that follows, which is almost brutal in its forceful drive. Respite comes in the Andante,which Brahms in his maturity (he had established his credentials in choral music with theGerman Requiem, and in the orchestral realm with the Haydn Variations by the time this work was completed) graced with an altogether characteristic lyric episode for the cello. By way of inevitable summing-up, the concluding Allegro, which begins with a provocative motif given the violin, with the piano emphasizing an atmosphere of general restlessness, and ends with a return the dark scenery of the work's opening—not in the form of any specific citation or reprise, but rather in the way of a general acknowledgement of the work's basic impulse.

 

In September of 1840, Robert Schumann married the love of his life, Clara Wieck. Clara was a gifted pianist and composer in her own right and Schumann obviously found her inspirational. The 12 months after their marriage saw him complete his famous song cycles, his first 2 symphonies, several other orchestral works and the first movement of his great piano concerto. Despite her obvious positive influence, their relationship could be quite tempestuous. When she embarked on a concert tour of Denmark in 1841, Schumann felt slighted and his creativity seemed to stall. He launched himself into studying the string quartet scores of Beethoven, Mozart and Haydn, drowning his melancholy in “beer and Champagne.” When Clara returned, he once again took up his pen. It was during this period of renewed productivity that Schumann completed, not only this piano quartet, but his three string quartets Op 41, and his piano quintet. At the time, the heart of the romantic era, chamber music was making the transition from the forum of private entertainment to that of the concert performance. Perhaps this explains the experimentation by Schumann and his contemporaries Mendelssohn and Brahms with the more complex, larger forms like the piano quartet and piano quintet, perhaps in an effort combine the intimacy provided by the string dialogue with the bravura and virtuosity of the new and popular generation of pianists at the time. The influence of Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn is obvious in the way Schumann pays special attention to the form and unity of this work. The slow sostenuto material introduced at the beginning demarcates the different sections of the opening movement. It also serves as the basis for the allegro which follows. The scherzo clearly shows the influence of Mendelssohn, in its light sparkling, undulating imitation, shaped by the bass line of the piano. The slower trios are more quintessentially Schumannesque, melding seamlessly with the quicker material. The curt ending of the movement, in the style of the “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” is another “hats off” to his good friend. The Andante is a poignant, tender melody exchanged between the different instruments. This material is varied only slightly. The delicate coda brings this warm, noble movement to a close. The final three chords anticipate the opening of the finale and provide material for the Vivace, in which this simple pattern is subject to a vigorous “working out” in fugato style. This material is contrasted with a smoother second theme. This movement, perhaps more than any of others demonstrates the unrestrained emotional drive that we associate with the composer.