Quartet for strings and piano in B flat major op. 41

Around 1851-1853, Saint-Saëns composed a piano quartet (not published until 1992). He revisited these forces in 1875, during a highly eventful year: marriage to Marie-Laure Truffot, birth of his son André, composition of the oratorio Le Déluge and the fourth Piano Concerto, as well as the premiere of his symphonic poems Phaéton and La Danse macabre. Written in February, the Piano Quartet, op. 41 was first performed soon after, on 6 March 1875, at the Salle Pleyel, by Pablo de Sarasate, Alfred Turban, Léon Jacquard and the composer. The work’s jaunty tone and rhythmic dynamism are in keeping with its speed of composition. The exuberance of the opening Allegretto is counterbalanced by the textural clarity and by the impulsive mood which at times gives the music an improvisatory feel. The following movement, which is not overly slow, maintains the tension. It is based on two elements which pass from one instrument to another or which are superimposed: a forceful, staccato motif on the piano; a chorale-style melody given initially to the strings. The Poco allegro più tosto moderato movement, which serves as a scherzo, is remarkable for its passion and the original rhythmic effects created by the syncopations in triple time. Two animated cadenzas (on the violin and, later, on the piano) reintroduce the improvisatory spirit. The energetic finale, in which the counterpoint avoids pedantic rigidity (as the work does as a whole), recapitulates the material from the previous movements and consolidates the quartet’s cyclical form.