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

Composed between 1885 and 1886 and premiered at the Société Nationale de Musique in Paris in 1887, Fauré's Second Piano Quartet is widely considered one of his greatest chamber works. Where the First Quartet has an impetuous Romantic urgency, the Second is more inward, harmonically daring, and structurally concentrated. The four movements are unified by a pervasive mood of restless searching: the opening Allegro molto moderato unfolds in long, sinuous lines; the Allegro molto scherzo is fleet and mercurial; the Adagio non troppo achieves a sustained serenity that places it among Fauré's most profound inspirations; and the Finale integrates all preceding material with a masterful long-range control. The work demands extraordinary balance and sensitivity from all four players and rewards prolonged study.