ÿþ<html> <head> <title>Forest Hill Chamber Music Festival 2004</title> <style> a:link {color:888888;text-decoration: none} a:active {color:888888;text-decoration: none} a:visited {color:888888;text-decoration: none} a:hover {color:000000;text-decoration: none} </style> </head> <body bgColor=ffffff topmargin=15 leftmargin=0 text=555555 link=000000 alink=000000 vlink=000000> <center> <a href="index.html"><img src="title01w.gif" border=0></a><BR> <BR><font size=3> { <a href="p1.html">6/11</a> &nbsp; <a href="p2.html">6/12</a> &nbsp; <a href="p3.html">6/13</a> &nbsp; <a href="p4.html">6/13</a> } &nbsp; { <a href="artists.html">artists</a> } &nbsp; { <a href="notes.html">program notes</a> } &nbsp; { <a href="photos.html">photos</a> } &nbsp; { <a href="contact.html">tickets</a> } &nbsp; { <a href="ack.html">acknowledgements</a> } &nbsp; { <a href="intro.html">about</a> } <BR><BR><BR> <table border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0> <TR> <Td align=right valign=top> <table border=0 cellpadding=15 cellspacing=0><TR><TD align=right> <a href="n01-bach.html">Johann Sebastian Bach </a><BR> <a href="n02-beet.html">Ludwig van Beethoven </a><BR> <a href="n03-berg.html">Alban Maria Johannes Berg </a><BR> <a href="n14-druk.html">Jacob Raphael Druckman </a><BR> <a href="n04-dvor.html">Antonín DvoYák </a><BR> <a href="n05-hind.html">Paul Hindemith </a><BR> <a href="n06-mech.html">Kirke Mechem</a><BR> <a href="n07-mess.html">Olivier Messiaen</a><BR> <a href="n08-moza.html">Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart </a><BR> <a href="n09-rohde.html">Kurt Rohde</a><BR> <a href="n10-ss.html">Charles Camille Saint-Saëns </a><BR> <a href="n11-scho.html">Arnold Schönberg </a><BR> <a href="n12-schub.html">Franz Peter Schubert </a><BR> <a href="n13-schum.html">Robert Schumann</a><BR> </td></tr></table> </td> <TD valign=top> <img src="black.gif" width=1 height=310><BR> </td> <TD valign=top width=500> <Table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=15><TR><TD> <font size=5><center><b>Robert Schumann</b><font size=2><br><i> b. 1810 Zwickau, Saxony; d. 1856 Endenich (Bonn), Germany</i></center><font size=3><br> <b>Quintet in E-flat Major For Piano and String Quartet, Op. 44 (1842)</b><br><br> Works for piano and string quartet are not all that common. When Schumann wrote this quintet, presumably the first of its kind, he had an almost instant hit that has remained highly popular to this day. Johannes Brahms, Antonín DvoYák, and César Franck have also subsequently produced piano quintets of considerable beauty and acclaim. <br><br>Schumann originally studied law and philosophy. He also took music instruction from, then moved into the household of, Friedrich Wieck, where he fell in love with and ultimately married Wieck s daughter Clara, a highly accomplished concert pianist, after having fought past Wieck s objections in a lawsuit. <br><br>The marriage of Robert and Clara Wieck Schumann is known to have been one of the happiest-ever pairings among artists, and the quintet was written during a period of tranquility in Schumann s otherwise very troubled life. <br><br>It was Clara who was to give the premiere of the quintet at a private concert, but she became ill, so composer Felix Mendelssohn, who had come only to listen, helped out and played the part on sight for that occasion. Clara played the public premiere about a month later. <br><br>Mendelssohn, notable for his scherzos, apparently found Schumann s scherzo in the quintet to be unsatisfactory and reportedly made suggestions for revisions which are part of the scherzo as we know it today. </td></tr></table> </td> </tr> </table> </body></html>