The Reginald Paul Pianoforte Quartet:
Marjorie Hayward (violin) ; Watson Forbes (viola) ; John Moore (violoncello) ; Reginald Paul (pianoforte)
The introduction of an obbligato piano (or one of its predecessors) became a fairly general practice only towards the middle of the eighteenth century ; the treatment of the harpsichord in Couperin's ' Concerts royaux ', one of which is to be broadcast on Saturday, is quite exceptional.
Johann Schobert (d. 1767) was the first composer to exploit the medium of piano and strings at all fully, and the first movement of this Mozart quartet-published in 1786, a month after Figaro appeared-shows a considerable affinity with Schobert.
Fantasy...........................Arnold Foster
Pianoforte Quartet in A minor,
Op. 21.....................Howells 1 Allegro moderato tranquillo. 2 Lento-Molto tranquillo. 3 Ritmico molto
This Piano Quartet, by one, of the best of Stanford's many notable pupils, was the first work published under the auspices of the Carnegie Trust (in 1917). Howells is a Gloucestershire man and the Quartet was inspired by Gloucestershire scenery: three aspects of the Hill of the Chosen (Churchdown, near Gloucester), and the country of the .Cotswolds and the Severn valley.
The beautiful second subject of the first movement, like a folk tune in character, is quoted in the slow movement. The finale also provides the scherzo element in the work.