Schumann Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 63

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

Philippe Graffin violin

David Adams viola

David Waterman cello

Alasdair Beatson piano

Illustrated talk by the performers

Fauré came of age in a France fighting for its cultural identity. His own admired teacher Saint-Saëns led the charge in trying to create a non-Germanic music tradition, aided by Chabrier and D’Indy, then Debussy and Ravel. But it was also Saint-Saëns who introduced the young Fauré to the piano music of Schumann. A century later, Schumann’s music, alone among the German Romantics, sits naturally alongside French music, and finds a special resonance in Fauré’s own art, sharing its fluidity, inwardness and subtlety. Here, distinguished musicians Philippe Graffin, David Adams, David Waterman and Alasdair Beatson illustrate the musical links between these two elusive artists, performing Schumann’s intense D minor Trio, and Fauré’s Second Piano Quartet, a work of rare, ecstatic expression.