Richard Strauss Piano Quartet in C minor Opus 13
Richard Strauss was born in 1864, the son of an accomplished horn player. He was involved in music from a very early age. The tastes of his father and those of his early teacher, Meyer, were somewhat conservative. The young Strauss was brought up with the music of Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert and his earlier works definitely show these influences strongly.
His Piano Quartet was written at the very end of what is often referred to as his early period. When Strauss graduated from the Ludwig's Gymnasium in 1882, he attended the university in Munich, in accordance with his father's wishes. He lasted only one winter, then left for the the more stimulating environments of Dresden and Berlin. It was in Berlin that he fell under the influence of Bulow, a pianist and conductor whom Strauss came to greatly admire. During this period, he developped a keen interest in the music of Johannes Brahms. Letters to his family and his friend/composer Ludwig Thuille reveal a good knowledge of the symphonies and the quartet itself is certainly modelled on the Brahms piano quartets.
The Brahmsian influence is most strongly shown in the first movement, with its unison opening passage, rich instrumentation and sonata form. Despite these obvious parallels, the interesting turns of phrase and key changes hint of a highly original, well thought out piece of music.
The second movement, a scherzo, again shows the the influence of Brahms, both in its form and in its displaced rythms. The twinkling piano part foreshadows and shows the influences behind some of the orchestration in Strauss's tone poems. The composer's dramatic talent is also showcased here. The singing trio is made up of a rich melody, full of viennese influences held over a 40 bar pedal in the bass. Later the opening material returns, and again in true Brahmsian style, it peters out to nothing then surprises us with a final flourish.
The central andante, is similar in concept to the slow movements in the Brahms quartets. It forms the emotional core of the work. Drawing on the broad themes from the first movement, Strauss uses all the hallmarks of romantic sentimentality.
The vivace finale, brings together elements from the other three movements. Opening with a diminution of first theme of the Allegro, Strauss draws on the some of the harmonic ideas from the Scherzo, the descending sixteenth figures from the andante and weaves them together in complex contrapunctal passages. A less dramatic section is followed by a build up, with quick scalar passages in the piano leading to a rousing ending.
Despite the pervasive influence of Brahms, much originality and talent is displayed in the complexity and thorough nature of this composition. Unlike some of his other works for smaller ensembles, this work was obviously an ambitious effort at creating a serious chamber piece. The fact that he submitted it to the Berlin Composer's Guild (for which he won a prize) shows that he took some pride in this work. As late as 1921, on his American tour, he was still performing it in concerts. Though it is not often played today, it was obviously a favorite of the composer's and is particularly interesting in the context of his developing musical style.