Completed in 1891, Ernest Chausson’s Concert for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet, Op. 21 is a glorious hybrid.
With the violin and piano functioning as solo protagonists set against the larger ensemble of the quartet, its musical dialogue resembles the Baroque concerto grosso. Brimming with bold virtuosity, it takes us on a dramatic journey that is virtually unique in the chamber music repertoire. The unusual title, suggesting a “harmonious ensemble,” recalls the Concerts royaux of French Baroque composer François Couperin.
A student of César Franck and Jules Massenet at Paris Conservatoire, Chausson (1855-1899) was born into a wealthy family. His father was a civil engineering contractor who assisted Haussmann in the grand reconstruction of Paris in the 1850s. A polymath, Chausson studied law and excelled in literature and painting. He hosted salon gatherings which included Debussy, Monet, and Mallarmé. In his mid-twenties, Chausson fell under the spell of the music of Wagner, making frequent trips to Munich and Bayreuth. Chausson left behind a small body of work which includes chamber music, songs, a symphony, and the famous Poème for violin and orchestra. A tragic bicycle accident cut his life short at the age of 44.
The first movement (Décidé – Calme – Animé) begins with a declamatory three-note motif which forms the seed out of which the work develops. As with the music of Franck, the Concert unfolds cyclically, with motifs recurring and evolving throughout the four movements. With sweeping sonic waves in the piano, and restless Wagnerian chromaticism, the movement soars to heroic heights. Only at the final cadence does the three-note motif find serene repose.
French composer Vincent d’Indy described the second movement (Sicilienne: Pas vite) as “the gardens where bloom the charming fancies of a Gabriel Fauré.” Set in 6/8 time, it is a graceful, lilting dance. In the Baroque period, the siciliana, a slow jig, carried pastoral connotations. This is the music of majestic, sun-drenched landscapes and quiet, wistful nostalgia.
The third movement (Grave) begins with a mysterious snaking chromatic line in the piano. For a moment, the music drifts without a tonal center. The violin enters with a lamenting statement, thematically related to the preceding Sicilienne, as the piano’s chromatic line continues to slither. Gradually, the music grows in intensity, its terrifying voices shrieking in anguish. In the final haunting bars, time seems suspended. The snaking line moves from the piano’s highest register to its ghostly depths.
In the brilliant, soaring final movement (Finale. Très animé), themes from the previous movements return in a motivic flood. The movement begins as a wild, exuberant dance filled with irregular phrases, and grows with passionate, euphoric energy. The three-note motif from the work’s opening returns triumphantly before the sunny final cadence.
The Concert’s premiere took place in Brussels on February 26, 1892 with Eugène Ysaÿe performing the solo violin part.
I. Décidé – Calme – Animé:
II. Sicilienne: Pas vite:
III. Grave:
IV. Finale. Très animé:
Five Great Recordings
- Chausson: Concert for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet, Op. 21, Gabriel Le Magadure, Frank Braley, Quatuor Agate Amazon
- Jennifer Pike, Tom Poster, Doric String Quartet
- Isabelle Faust, Alexander Melnikov, Salagon Quartet
- Pascal Rogé, Pierre Amoyal, Quatuor Ysaÿe
- Itzhak Perlman, Jorge Bolet, Robert Mann, Earl Carlyss, Samuel Rhodes, Joel Krosnick
Featured Image: Still Life with a Curtain (1895), Paul Cézanne