Piano Quintet no. 2 in C minor Op. 115

Fauré composed his Second Piano Quintet in the greatest secrecy between September 1919 and March 1921. He spoke about it only to his wife. Thus the work came as an even greater surprise to the audience at the première, given on 21 May 1921 at a concert of the Société Nationale de Musique by André Tourret and Victor Gentil (violins), Maurice Vieux (viola), Gérard Hekking (cello) and Robert Lortat (piano). It was a triumphant success. The critic Émile Vuillermoz, writing In Le Temps, was full of praise: "The Quintet in C has the paradoxical merit of bringing together two generally incompatible virtues: youth and serenity. It has the youthful privilege of freshness, ardour, generosity and persuasive tenderness; it also possesses the sober gifts of wisdom, idealised passion, fine and delectable balance, and tranquil reason.” Indeed, the score combines the strings and the piano harmoniously (thus precluding the temptation to create orchestral textures) and uses in equal measure the resources of counterpoint and vertical music. Sometimes treated as a homogeneous entity, the string quartet also allows each of its members to shine as a soloist. Furthermore, Fauré offers strong formal references: in the first movement, for instance, the development and recapitulation are clearly indicated by a return of the first theme. At the same time he multiplies the unexpected inflections, in the rhythm (the hemiolas in movements 2 and 4) and the harmony. Particularly remarkable is the quicksilver Scherzo, Allegro vivo, in which the key is constantly elusive.