Oslo Philharmonic Chamber Series Franz Schubert
Gustav Mahler
Ludvig Irgens-Jensen

Schubert: Quartettsatz, D. 703

Franz Schubert (1797–1828) composed his Quartettsatz, D. 703 as a single-movement string quartet. He wrote it in 1820 as the first movement of what was intended to be a complete string quartet, two years before his Unfinished Symphony. The quartet, too, remained unfinished, for reasons unknown. The shimmering, nervous, and explosive movement nevertheless stands superbly on its own and is today regarded as one of the first works of Schubert's mature period.

Mahler: Piano Quartet in A minor

Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) is best known today for his monumental symphonies and far less so for his chamber output, of which only the single-movement Piano Quartet in A minor has survived. He began work on the quartet toward the end of his first year at the Vienna Conservatory. As with Schubert's Quartettsatz, this was likely intended as the first movement of a complete piano quartet. Mahler is said to have played the piano part himself at private performances in 1876, but the work was not performed publicly until 86 years later. His widow, Alma, discovered the manuscript only in the 1960s, and the work was published after being broadcast on a New York City radio station in 1962.

Irgens-Jensen: Piano Quintet

Ludvig Irgens-Jensen (1894–1969) was one of Norway's most prominent composers of the 20th century and had close ties to the Oslo Philharmonic. For years, his Passacaglia was part of the orchestra's repertoire on international tours, and his dramatic symphony Heimferd remains one of the greatest musical successes ever staged in Oslo. Twelve sold-out concerts in a row rescued the Oslo Philharmonic, which in 1930 stood on the brink of bankruptcy. The Piano Quintet was composed in the mid-1920s, during the same period as the Passacaglia, and was premiered by the Philharmonic String Quartet. The style is polyphonic and serious in character. The work is built around a chorale theme from which all the thematic material is derived. The quintet is rarely performed, partly because only a handwritten manuscript exists, and no printed edition has ever been published.