Piano Quartet

Richard Bratby, Birmingham Post

Here was a statement of intent. And the work itself confidently bore out that traditional title, sustaining both inspiration and energy over its quarter-hour, single-movement span.
The Fidelios' commitment to the piece was absolute. Hushed, close-harmony string passages danced and fizzed, while climaxes broke with torrential force and gleaming string-tone. The great sweep up to Brown's sonorous finish was superbly paced and delivered with breathtaking verve.
Enthusiastic applause greeted what would prove to be the high point of the evening.

The challenge of combining the piano with strings in chamber music is often solved by some form of dramatic dialogue, setting the forces as antagonists in order to make a virtue of the opposing sonorities. I wanted however, to achieve a convincing balance within a kind of contrapuntal and harmonic propulsion where the piano and strings are often moving rapidly as a single force.

It is cast in one movement, which is sub-divided into a sonata structure and an extended coda. The first subject group expands from an initially quasi Mozartean framework into music of a tougher and more assertive nature. There is a slower, darker second subject and a climactic development. The recapitulation is substantially reorganised and re-interpreted.

The coda takes the form of an allegro Finale and is a variation of the sonata material both in terms of metre and character, intending to bring the work to an exuberant conclusion.

The Piano Quartet was first performed by the Fidelio Piano Quartet at St Andrew's Church, Presteigne during the Presteigne Festival on 28th August 2004. The commission was funded by the Philharmonia Orchestra's Martin Musical Scholarship Fund Ensemble Award, sponsored by Total with investment from Arts & Business New Partners scheme.

Click a score sample below to view a larger version of the score...

Opening

Ending

Review: Prospero's Isle CD

Posted on: Saturday 15th September 2012

"Seldom does one hear new music that marries such daunting technical skill and virtuosic demands with so much ease and life-affirming joy"
Mark Lehmann, American Record Guide

View CD details and read full review...

Works:  Piano Quartet | Prospero's Isle | String Trio | Violin Sonata

Prospero's Isle - Guild releases composer portrait CD

Saturday 16th July 2011

Read more...

"The four works on this CD demonstrate beyond question the vital role tonal music has to play in today's culture and reflect the composer's close association with some of the most talented and celebrated international artists, many of whom gave the world premieres of these works.
This selection of James Francis Brown's exciting, visionary and emotionally rewarding chamber music is captured for the first time on this recording. This is a tour de force of contemporary virtuosity and lyrical intensity." Guild Web review

Works:  Piano Quartet | Prospero's Isle | String Trio | Violin Sonata

Performance: Piano Quartet

Saturday 13th June 2009

Part of the Ulverston Festival.

Anthony Hewitt, piano | Ning Kam, violin | Sarah-Jane Bradley, viola | Gemma Rosefield, cello | Coronation Hall, Ulverston

Works:  Piano Quartet

Performance: Piano Quartet

Friday 24th February 2006

Fidelio Piano Quartet | Barber Fine Arts Institute, Birmingham

Works:  Piano Quartet

Performance: Piano Quartet

Friday 21st October 2005

Fidelio Piano Quartet | United Reformed Church, Bromley

Works:  Piano Quartet

Performance: Piano Quartet

Saturday 6th August 2005

Fidelio Piano Quartet | Leighton House, London

Works:  Piano Quartet

Performance: Piano Quartet

Saturday 25th June 2005

Fidelio Piano Quartet | All Saints Church, East Finchley

Works:  Piano Quartet

Performance: Piano Quartet

Wednesday 25th May 2005

Fidelio Piano Quartet | The Radlett Centre

Works:  Piano Quartet

Performance: Piano Quartet

Monday 18th April 2005

Fidelio Piano Quartet | Salle Moliere, Lyon

Works:  Piano Quartet

Performance: Piano Quartet

Friday 18th March 2005

Fidelio Piano Quartet | Wigmore Hall, London

Works:  Piano Quartet

Performance: Piano Quartet

Saturday 5th March 2005

Fidelio Piano Quartet | Chelsea Arts Club, London

Works:  Piano Quartet

Performance: Piano Quartet

Sunday 27th February 2005

Fidelio Piano Quartet | Holywell Music Room, Oxford

Works:  Piano Quartet

Performance: Piano Quartet

Sunday 20th February 2005

Fidelio Piano Quartet | Courtenay Centre Hall, Newton Abbott

Works:  Piano Quartet

Performance: Piano Quartet

Sunday 13th February 2005

Fidelio Piano Quartet | Conway Hall, London

Works:  Piano Quartet

World Premiere: Piano Quartet

Saturday 28th August 2004

Part of the Presteigne Festival.

Fidelio Piano Quartet | St Andrew's Church, Presteigne, Wales

Works:  Piano Quartet