Gabriel Faure Piano Quartet No. 1 in C minor Opus 15

Gabriel Faure (1845–1924) was living and working in France during a period when music was changing drastically, making the transition from the romantic style of Brahms and Schumann, through the revolutionary harmonic changes of Wagner, to the early 20th century modernism of Schoenberg, Debussy and Stravinsky. While his music is characterized by a certain "reserve" of sentiment and instrumentation, it does show the influences of the french school, the dominant musical force at the turn of the last century.

He was trained as an organist and choirmaster and later came under the influence of his teacher Camille Saint-Saens, a virtuoso pianist. It follows that the majority of his works are written for voice, piano and organ. He is best known for his choral works: a very early project: Le Cantique de Jean Racine; and of course his Requiem, one of the most recognized pieces of music in the classical repertoire.

By many accounts, he often questioned the merit of his own works. It was not until his songs became popular in the salons of Paris that he gained much recognition for his music at all. He did however, have a certain amount of confidence in his capabilities in the chamber music idiom. His interest in the chamber music form spanned his entire career from his first violin sonata, published in 1877, to his string quartet, published posthumously in 1925.

His particularly beautiful music for strings and piano draws on both his beautiful sense of the song and a his concept of a particular melody's interaction with its accompaniment. His melodies and musical ideas never give way to what he would have considered showy uses of colour and "effects". His music is uncluttered without being sparse and creates a certain atmosphere of simplicity and poignancy which is very appealing to a wide range of audiences.

Both in his songs and in his chamber works, the, often arpeggiated piano parts, seem to break the music into tiny pieces, like a musical kaliedoscope. Faure was not a virtuoso pianist himself, yet his piano parts are often extremely challenging. The unusual distribution of parts between the two hands and interesting finger substitutions are probably due to his training as an organist and the fact that he was ambidextrous.

The first piano quartet was written fairly early on in his career over the period between 1876 and 1879 (he completing the final revision in 1883). It clearly shows the influence of Brahms, he has a similarly good understanding of the differences in sound and character between the strings and the piano. He opens with a very romantic, richly orchestral statement of the main theme by the unison strings which is soon transformed into a beautiful melody. In keeping with the style of Brahms, the first movement adheres fairly strictly to the classical form. It is interesting to note that this piece was written, like the quartets of Brahms, during a time of emotional trauma. An engagement to Marianne Viardot was broken off after a 5 year romance.

The second movement begins with a lighthearted scherzo. The melody is carried by the piano, accompanied by pizzicato and dovetailing in the strings. The trio section is again light with muted strings. Characteristically, the piano outlines this melody in delicate arpeggios. Eventually, the music returns to the material of the Scherzo.

The melancholic Adagio exhibits the composer's exquisite understanding of the emotional range of the cello. The strings answer the piano to develop the moving theme. The piano closes off the movement quietly.

His concluding Allegro Molto opens with a racing, undulating piano part which is echoed in the strings. This is contrasted with a second, more singing theme. These two themes are worked out, building to a climax in the piano part. The piano holds our attention by restarting the coda with some gentler material. Once again, the music intensifies for an impassioned ending.