Theodore Dubois: Piano Quintet & Piano Quartet

Our discovery of the French composer Théodore Dubois continues with his piano chamber music, which for us here and now is very much new musical terrain: a Piano Quartet in the classic ensemble as well as a Piano Quintet as a fascinating exception to the rule with its string trio and oboe (instead of a second violin). The flawless design and tonal beauty of these works make us sit up and take notice, and by the way they were penned during the first decade of a new century by a composer who was almost seventy years old and now was focusing on the writing of chamber music. The Quintette pour violon, hautbois, alto et violoncelle was published in 1905, prior to the Piano Quartet, and its exquisite ensemble generates a special magnetism. Here the master aims at a noble, sensuous sumptuousness in the melody instruments in which the special color of the oboe now has its share. At the same time, the rich sound captivates the listener as chamber music building on a piano foundation and exclusively employing the character of this keyboard instrument as a sort of dramatic signal in the dialogue of the song lines during all the movements.