Oslo Philharmonics’s Chamber Series César Franck
Guillaume Lekeu

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

Belgian composer Guillaume Lekeu (1870–1894) moved to Paris at the age of 18, where he enrolled at the conservatory and studied with both César Franck and Vincent d’Indy. In 1893, he received a commission for a piano quintet from one of the great violinists of the time, Eugène Ysaÿe. Lekeu died of typhoid fever the following year, shortly after his 24th birthday. The quintet was left unfinished, but the first movement performed in this concert—Dans un emportement douloureux—is so expansive and dramatic that it often feels like at least two movements in one.

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.