The styles of Gabriel Fauré and Ernest Chausson were distinct but complementary. They frequented the same Parisian salons in the final decades of the 19th century and were pioneers of the French musical identity that emerged in the post-war period with Prussia, paving the way for musicians such as Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. Harmonious refinement and subtle exploration of instrumental timbres were hallmarks of their works. This program brings together the only string quartets that both composers wrote. Interestingly, they were also their last compositions. Chausson was finishing the third movement when he suffered a tragic bicycle accident in June 1899—the initial melancholy and the alternation between bucolic and dramatic moods in the slow movement reinforce the commotion of this episode. Fauré lived much longer. At almost eighty years of age, and practically deaf, he completed this testimony of wisdom in 1924, reminiscent of Beethoven’s “last lessons.”
Fin de siècle
Solistas da Metropolitana
G. Fauré String Quartet
E. Chausson String Quartet
Alexei Tolpygo, Ágnes Sárosi violins
Sérgio Sousa viola
Ana Cláudia Serrão cello
Free admission subject to capacity | M/6
All shows are accessible to people with reduced mobility
More information at dmc.dac@cm-lisboa.pt / 218 170 900
