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Jeanne-Louise Farrenc

( 31 May 1804 - 15 September 1875 )

Happy Birthday, Louise!

#Farrenc #birthday #happy birthday!#composer birthday #French music #Romanticism #Romantic music #19th century music

Farrenc - Piano Quintet no.1 in a minor

I rarely share something I haven’t listened to all the way through, but I just discovered this work and felt so excited I needed to make a post about it. The first movement alone is full of concerto-like virtuosity for the piano, but it is balanced with the strings which hold up the momentum throughout, and make the work dazzling and energetic. The second movement is a bit slower, but it isn’t completely lighter. The piano builds up a dramatic progression and the strings play the melodies over it, at points in canonic imitation. Even though it’s the “slow movement”, its forward momentum is emphasized by a continuous pulse that bounces from strings to piano and back again. The next movement is a more lighthearted scherzo, the strings switching from pulled to plucked, giving it a nice variety. The final movement opens up with a mild bounce in the rhythm, and becomes a mix between a dance and a more lucid fantasy. I thought I’d recognized the name before, and looking her up, I found that Louise Farrenc is somewhat of a tragic figure in history. Or maybe tragic is too strong a word, but basically, she is yet another example of a woman whose work went ignored by society at large, because she was a woman. Even though her husband encouraged her, and she put in time and effort for her playing and composing technique, and even though a few of her chamber works gained mild recognition at festivals and conservatories, she was never able to make a big enough name for publishers to trust for sales, and she was overlooked by musicians of the time [despite the praise she got from major figures like Schumann and Berlioz]. It also doesn’t help that her music style is more “19th century conservative” in harmonies, but Mendelssohn is considered more conservative as well, so that’s not a good enough excuse. While I could keep writing in a funk about how much of a shame it is that so much great music gets overlooked in history, I should instead be happy that I live in the Information Age and can not only read the name “Farrenc” but hear her music performed. This performance is great, full of youthful energy, and is helping me wake up before my morning coffee.

Movements:

1. Allegro

2. Adagio

3. Scherzo

4. Finale