The dawn of careers

Gabriel Fauré was thirty-five when his First Piano Quartet (1880) was premiered, and his former pupil George Enescu was twenty-eight when he completed a work for the same group of instruments almost thirty years later (1909). The two compositions show a clear kinship, and the Romanian’s gesture should undoubtedly be seen as a tribute. Furthermore, he later dedicated his Second Piano Quartet to his teacher. These two pieces are also interesting in that composers of that time taking their first steps in the field of chamber music typically chose to begin with the piano quartet. While the string quartet represented the absolute summit, reserved for composers at the very height of their powers, the piano quartet, less exposed, enabled a more casual approach to the genre.