»Damenbesuch«

Late breakthrough

The Piano Quartet in A minor was composed by Gustav Mahler at the age of sixteen for a school competition and received its first performance on 1 July 1876. This was originally a complete piano quartet, of which, however, only the allegro movement has survived (only a few roughly sketched drafts of a scherzo movement still exist). The fact that the work is relatively unknown is probably due not only to the fact that it is incomplete, but also to the composer's careless attitude to his own works, especially in the field of chamber music. What has survived is therefore all the more important as a convincing documentation of Mahler's chamber music style and his early talent.

Like many female composers of her time, Fanny Hensel, the sister of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, had to struggle with all sorts of difficulties. Her compositional works, for example, were generally disregarded during her lifetime. Admittedly, like her brother she was taught music from early childhood and received piano lessons for many years, but her musical skills were only appreciated in Sunday music sessions with friends and family in the Mendelssohn household. It was only in the last year of her life that Fanny defied her brother's wishes and published some of her own compositions, including the String Quartet in E flat major. Her publisher, Günter Marx, described the melodious character of the work as follows: »The Romanze is not content merely to illuminate the beautiful, song-like theme in various ways, but also presents, wonderfully romantically, a whole drama.« It is true that the high-spirited last movement, which develops the rondo theme in constantly new, surprising forms, can evoke a mood that could be described as »dramatic«. Although the piece as a whole creates a sensation that is reminiscent of late Beethoven, it also, by doing without a main movement in sonata form, feels more like a series of Romantic fantasies.

As is the case with other works by Johannes Brahms, the Piano Quintet in F minor, op. 34, had a long gestation period. An earlier version had already been praised as »wonderfully magnificent« by Clara Schumann. The impetus for its further completion was ultimately provided by the great Wagner conductor Hermann Levi, whose opinion of the final version of the quintet, »a masterpiece of chamber music«, tells us as much about the power of his judgement as it does about his taste. The final version eventually appeared in December 1865 and contains references to two composers whom Brahms particularly loved and to whom he payed personal homage with his work. Both the scherzo and the finale contain references to Richard Wagner, with whom Brahms is very rarely associated otherwise: The hammering motif of the scherzo, for example, is strongly reminiscent of the representation of the Nibelheim in Wagner's opera »Das Rheingold«. The excessive chromaticism of the introductory bars of the finale, on the other hand, awakens associations with the harmonies of »Tristan«. This is followed by a complete change of style in the form of a rondo entirely in the style of Schubert's harmonic soundscapes, which leads the quintet towards its close with a stretto in 6/8 time.

Gustav Mahler (1860–1911)
Piano Quartet in A minor
Nicht zu schnell. Mit Leidenschaft. Entschlossen – Scherzo

Fanny Hensel (1805–1847)
String Quartet in E flat major
Adagio ma non troppo – Allegretto – Romanze – Allegro molto vivace

– Interval –

Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)
Piano Quintet in F minor, op. 34
Allegro non troppo – Andante, un poco adagio – Scherzo.
Allegro – Finale. Poco sostenuto. Allegro non troppo. Presto non troppo