Oslo Philharmonics’s Chamber Series Gustav Mahler
César Franck

This concert is thematically connected to the performances on 25–26 September

Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) is today best known for his massive symphonies and far less for his chamber music, of which only the single-movement Piano Quartet in A minor has survived. He began composing the quartet towards the end of his first year at the Vienna Conservatory. Mahler himself is said to have played the piano part at a few private performances in 1876, but the work was not performed publicly until 86 years later. Mahler’s widow Alma only discovered the manuscript of the quartet in the 1960s, and the work was published after it was broadcast on a radio station in New York City in 1962.

When César Franck (1822–1890) completed his Piano Quintet in F minor in 1879, it was his first chamber work in over 25 years. The quintet is an expansive composition, comparable in duration to a symphony. Franck dedicated the piece to his compatriot Camille Saint-Saëns, who also performed as the pianist at the premiere in 1880. Saint-Saëns apparently sight-read the piano part and is said to have grown increasingly displeased with the music as he played. According to several accounts, he abruptly left the stage after the performance, even as Franck stepped forward to acknowledge the applause. Despite this somewhat scandalous premiere, the quintet is now considered one of Franck’s most significant and important works.