Piano Quartet No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 15 by Gabriel Fauré

San Francisco Conservatory of Music Alumni Recital Series presents Robin Sutherland performing Faure Piano Quartet in C Minor with SFCM Faculty. To learn more about Alumni Success Stories, visit https://sfcm.edu/alumni-success-stories

Piano Quartet No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 15 (1879, revised 1883) -- Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)
Allegro molto moderato
Scherzo: Allegro vivo
Adagio
Allegro molto
Robin Sutherland, piano; Ian Swensen, violin; Paul Hersh, viola; Jennifer Culp, cello

Fauré Piano Quartet No. 1 in C Minor
Though not known for his chamber music, Gabriel Fauré managed to handle the problem of the piano quartet magnificently. Instead of trying to mimic the strings' sustain on the piano, Fauré lets the piano do what the instrument does best—sweeping arpeggios and control of harmonic movement. Fauré's piano also takes the lead in the complex hypermeter, in which downbeats are displaced so frequently from the bar lines that they seem to disappear—a hallmark of the composer's style.

An energetic statement from unison strings opens the quartet. After flowing through the secondary theme and the development, the opening motif returns, but this time in the parallel major. Charles Koechlin, a student of Fauré's, wrote of this movement: "Is one justified in thus transforming a 'masculine' theme----in metamorphosing it into a kind of misty memory, into nostalgic thoughts and loving regrets? But why not, if it is done well?"

The second-movement Scherzo opens with soft pizzicato strums, shortly followed by a playful theme in the piano. A duality of meters is a central struggle throughout the movement----the theme is

heard first in compound meter, but this is soon juxtaposed against simple 2/4. The Adagio showcases Fauré's most intimate manner. Musicologist Robert Orledge describes this movement as "contemplative and beautiful, alternately serene and powerful, [demanding] the maximum of concentration from performer and audience alike."

In 1884 Fauré rewrote the finale "from head to toe," discarding all or almost all the music he had written. Shortly before his death, he went to the trouble of destroying what remained of the original finale. Even if the listener finds Fauré's finales filled with too much "coquetry" as one critic put it, the difficulty of the music will still astound. Certainly, the wide dynamic range of the piano, so characteristic of Fauré—with sudden quick crescendos and short, intense swells—can be heard throughout. Even Liszt, after he attempted to play a piano piece by Fauré, exclaimed, "I've run out of fingers!" and declared it "too difficult." --Program notes by Louis Cruz

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