2. Chamber Music Concert

Charles Koechlin Quatre petites pièces for violin, horn and piano
Clara Schumann Piano trio G minor op. 17
Louise Farrenc Nonett E flat major op. 38

Louise Farrenc was the first woman to receive a piano professorship at the renowned Paris Conservatory. Born in 1804 into a family of artists belonging to the Parisian Bohème, she was supported in her musical career from a young age. Her popularity as a composer was rather unusual in the male-dominated musical world of the 19th century. Her music was performed, published and discussed in reviews. Encouraged by the premiere of her Nonet, in which the star violinist Joseph Joachim was performing, she insisted upon receiving the same salary from the conservatory as her male colleagues - with success. Clara Schumann was only 15 years younger than Farrenc and her Trio op. 17 from 1846 is her greatest work of chamber music. As her husband Robert had not yet composed a classical trio at the time, she was able to express herself freely in this area without being exposed to the often inhibiting comparison with her husband. Her trio captivates with expressive themes and a touching melancholy. The concert opens with the yearning sounds of the trio composed by Charles Koechlin around 1900, who was a fellow student of Maurice Ravel at the famous Paris Conservatory.