Classical Arts Society Presents: Quintessential Quartets

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Program:

Fauré - Piano Quartet No. 2 in G minor, Op. 45

Brahms - Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25  

Date and location:

Thursday, May 22nd from 6:30-9:30 pm

The Arts Club of Washington

2017 I St NW, Washington, DC 20006, United States

Click here for more information and tickets

What is special about G minor?

On May 22nd, the Classical Arts Society of Washington will perform two piano quartets: Brahms’ Quartet in G minor, Op. 25 and Faure’s Quartet in G minor, Op. 45. Earlier in the 2024-2025 season the group performed the Rachmaninoff cello sonata, also in G minor. One may then ask, is there something special about G minor?

Mozart certainly thought so. Specifically, according to musicologist Alfred Einstein, G minor is Mozart's key of fate. Of his forty-one symphonies, only two are in minor keys, and both are in G minor. Two of his most moving chamber works, the string quintet K 516 and the piano quartet K 478 are also in G minor. Below is a performance of the piano quartet, in which the listener is immediately thrust into what is likely the essence of G minor.

Performers: Asaf Zohar, piano; Hagai Shaham, violin; Zvi Carmeli, viola; and Zwi Plesser, cello.