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Piano Quartet in E-Flat Major, Op. 16
Composed in 1796, this piano quartet from Beethoven's early period began as a quintet for piano, clarinet, oboe, horn, and bassoon. Beethoven transcribed it for piano and strings, and both versions were later published with the same opus number. Beethoven's quartet is an arrangement in the truest sense, Beethoven making only such changes as the new instrumentation required.
The Opus. 16 quartet is the most Mozartean of Beethoven's early chamber music, but its vigour, humour, and size remove it from direct comparison. Straightforward in its emotional purposes, perfect in form and texture, richly endowed with satisfying melodies, it represents all that is best of first period Beethoven. The Allegro is a fully developed sonata form with three themes; the long melodious Andante follows a "large rondo form" and charms in its beautiful themes, delicate embroideries, and counterpoint; the Finale is fast, brilliant, and full of wit.
Piano Quartet No. 1 in D Major, Op. 23
Dvořák composed his first piano quartet in 1875, the same year that Brahms composed his third and final work for the same ensemble. Dvořák was 34 with still merely a local reputation despite all his hard work. He was yet a few years away from his international “breakthrough” with the Slavonic Dances and even more years from what in hindsight are regarded as his mature chamber masterworks. Yet still, within a few measures of the opening, one can recognize Dvořák’s distinctive musical personality. The initial themes of the first movement already suggest the folk-like modal simplicity some would associate with his “American” phase nearly two decades hence. Along with Dvořák’s gift for lyricism and color, this early quartet demonstrates numerous evocations of Slavonic national character that give nearly all of Dvořák’s work a special, novel cast when compared with almost every composer that preceded him
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| For a full listing of this seasons concerts, please select the 2010-2011 Season menu item or click here. |
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| The Midland Chambers Players Society is a Registered Charity: HT/500193/R
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