The two piano quartets on this evening’s program are among the most popular chamber music works in the classical and romantic repertoire today—and have been for centuries. However, both works took some time to find favor with the public.
Mozart composed his Piano Quartet in E flat major during an extremely productive period, along with the opera "Don Giovanni," major symphonies, piano concertos, and string quartets. Mozart was at the height of his fame at this time, and most of his works were correspondingly successful. However, he overtaxed his audience with the piano quartets, as it quickly became clear that the unusual instrumentation was not suitable for amateurish time-wasting, but had to be carefully rehearsed by experts in order to unfold their full effect. However, this did not meet the wishes of his publisher, who distanced himself from the original order of three quartets and even sold the printing plates to competitors. The first performances were also described very critically—quite simply, because the musicians were not sufficiently prepared.
Surprisingly, the first reactions to the Piano Quartet in G minor by the still young Brahms were also rather restrained; this grandiose work was also difficult to understand and too difficult to play. However, the great Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim immediately recognized the qualities of the piano quartet. He was in a competition with Brahms as to which of the two could write the better Hungarian music and conceded to his friend without envy that he had "given him a very good beating" on his own territory. Not only this famous finale, but also the piano quartet is a rousing highlight of the chamber music literature.
Tickets are CHF 38 for adults and CHF 23 for students.

Website
klanglichter.ch/event/2025-05-10/

Where
Obere Fabrik
Gerbegässlein 1
4450 Sissach

Share Add to Calendar

Advertisement