Faure Piano Quintets, numbers 1 and 2.
Original Release Date: December 20, 2009
Performed by the Schubert Ensemble
Gabriel Fauré was a pupil of Camille Saint-Saens, and he served as organist at various Paris churches, including the famous Madeleine; in 1897 he taught music at the Paris Conservatoire, where his pupils included Maurice Ravel and Georges Enescu. He retired in 1920, after which he was able to devote himself more fully to composition, notably two final chamber works, a piano trio and a string quartet. He died in Paris in 1924.
After twenty-six years at the forefront of British music performance, the Schubert Ensemble is now established as one of the world’s leading exponents of chamber music for piano and strings. In 1998 its contribution to British musical life was recognized by the Royal Philharmonic Society which presented the Ensemble with the Best Chamber Ensemble Award.
The group is particularly passionate about the music of Fauré, and in recent years they have championed these highly individual Quintets at its many concerts across the UK.
Fauré combined pre-baroque musical ideas with the traditional tonal system; he created a unique sense of constantly shifting harmony which is inimitably his own. Also, his syncopated rhythms are very characteristic of his style. When you listen closely to his Piano Quintets, you will hear great drama, tension and strong emotion. These are really beautiful works!
“Chamber music”, wrote Fauré, “really is… true music and the most sincere expression of a genuine personality.”