Debussy, Fauré, Messiaen

Claude DEBUSSY Première Rhapsodie for Clarinet and Piano (1910)
Gabriel FAURÉ Piano Quartet in G minor, Op. 45 (1886)
Olivier MESSIAEN Quartet for the End of Time (1940)

Romie de Guise-Langlois, clarinet; Alyssa Wang, violin; Marcus Thompson, viola; Raman Ramakrishnan, cello; Max Levinson, piano

Debussy’s Première Rhapsodie is a kaleidoscopic setting of the clarinet’s timbral possibilities, offering an ever-shifting soundscape of different techniques, articulations and registers. Debussy himself remarked that “surely this piece is one of the most pleasing I have ever written.” / Passionate and lyrical themes unfold and transform within a lush texture in Faure’s Piano Quartet in G minor. Of particular note is the Adagio, in which the piano’s opening figure, like the toll of bells, sets a dreamlike atmosphere within which the viola’s plaintive solos unfold. / One of the most significant pieces of music to result from World War II, Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time comprises eight movements based on passages from the Revelation of John. The musical innovations for which Messiaen would become known, namely his treatment of rhythm and incorporation of birdsong, are defining elements of this work.

You may also like the following events from Boston Chamber Music Society:

• Happening on, 15th February, 03:00 pm, Mozart, Zemlinsky, Dvořák in Cambridge

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