Output details

Johannes Brahms, Piano Quartet in G minor, Op. 25; Gabriel Fauré, Piano Quartet in C minor, Op. 15. Primrose Piano Quartet (John Thwaites, piano)

A key element in the research imperative for this recording is the use of a historic Blüthner piano chosen by Brahms himself in 1896 for the young British-Australian pianist Margaret Hanson, now in the possession of her grandson. The instrument, while relatively small, has been kept in unusually good condition, and provides immensely valuable insight into the soundworld of an essentially domestic chamber performance situation of a kind intimately linked with, and recognizable to, Brahms himself. Taking on board other recent performance practice research on Brahms, Thwaites uses the 1896 piano creatively to mediate with an essentially modern string set-up, to inflect the detail of articulation, phrasing, tonal production, dynamic control and balance of all four performers in often ear-opening ways. The recording is therefore not intended as an artificial simulacrum of late nineteenth-century period performance, but rather as an informed practice of nuancing interpretation and technique in the presence, and under the musical influence, of a particularly clear historical and material reality, in the form of Brahms’s chosen instrument.

The performance research underpinning this recording also relates directly to Thwaites’ current, ongoing doctoral research at the Conservatoire (where he is Head of the Keyboard Department) on hermeneutics, extra-musical allusion and performance practice in the chamber music of Brahms.

The production of this CD was supported by funding from the Conservatoire Research Department. The recording includes as performers two other Conservatoire colleagues: Robin Ireland (senior viola tutor) and Susanne Stanzeleit (violin tutor), with Andrew Fuller (cello).