Haydn, Farrenc, Brahms

Name: Haydn, Farrenc, Brahms
Start: 2025-10-19T15:00:00-04:00
Location: Sanders Theatre

Schedule

Sun, 19 Oct, 2025 at 03:00 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

Sanders Theatre | Cambridge, MA

Joseph HAYDN Piano Trio in G major, Hob.XV.25, “Gypsy” (1795)
Louise FARRENC Piano Quintet in A minor, Op. 30 (1839)
Johannes BRAHMS String Sextet in B-flat major, Op. 18 (1860)
Jennifer Frautschi, violin; Alyssa Wang, violin; David Harding, viola; Marcus Thompson, viola; Edward Arron, cello; Audrey Chen, cello; Thomas Van Dyck, double bass; Max Levinson, piano
One of Haydn’s most popular contributions to the genre, the Piano Trio in G major gains its nickname from its finale, a rollicking tour de force written in the Hungarian folk style that Haydn absorbed during his years in Eszterháza. / Serious in character yet lush in texture, Farrenc’s Piano Quintet in A minor delights listeners with its unique depth of sonority owing to its inclusion of a double bass in addition to the cello. Farrenc makes great demands on the pianist in this work while also giving the strings opportunities to shine, notably in the lyrical solos of the Adagio. / Reminiscent of the Austrian ländler, the opening Allegro of Brahms’s String Sextet in B-flat inhabits the slightly bittersweet, “autumnal” mood often associated with Brahms. The heart of this work though is its monumental second movement, a series of thrilling variations that, like a Baroque passacaglia, unfurl over a repeating bass line.