I have been reading about and listening to some piano quartet music recently. Of the few that I've listened to, Brahms No. 1 and Faure No. 2 definitely won me over! (both in g minor, coincidentally)

I've only been obsessed with the last movement of the Brahms 1, which may just be the most well-known movement of all his piano quartets - the "Gypsy Rondo." There's so much adrenaline rush, especially with the piano cadenza and the acceleration to the finish line. But now I'm realizing what a gem the first movement is! It opens with a simplistic yet melancholy presentation of the main theme, but reaches its first high point very soon. So many beautiful and fiery moments develop from that point on. Ahh, Brahms is so amazing.

The Faure - wow, I don't ever remember being impressed with any of Faure's works before. However, his Piano Quartet No. 2 is incredible, incredible, incredible. Of course, I am mainly talking about just the first movement, which is the only one I've listened to carefully so far. It has a clear sense of Romanticism with its sweeping melodies, but with glaring hints of French Impressionism (this piece sounds so very French... whatever you make out of that). For a good part of the movement, the piano part sounds like something rumbling underneath several layers of the strings parts flowing on top... It's such a colorful piece. I can definitely see how one would call Faure as the missing link between Brahms and Debussy :)

Now, a good question for tomorrow is how in the world I am going to sight-read through these piano quartets (mostly from the Romantic period)... on the cello. I realized I am really, really, really, not a good sight reader on tenor clef. But I'm excited nevertheless.