Piano Quartet 1822
Hensel’s First Chamber Work
In May 1822 at age 16, Fanny Hensel began work on her first piece of chamber music and her largest-scale work so far in her compositional career: the Piano Quartet in A-flat Major. Piano quartets were not common genres at the time, and she would have had relatively few historical examples to refer to (most notably Mozart’s). Felix had written a piano quartet the previous year at age 12, and he was beginning to receive attention as a wunderkind composer by prominent Germans including Goethe. This may have motivated Fanny to demonstrate her own compositional aptitude in a larger format than lieder or piano pieces. But of course this showcase of her talents would not gain the same degree of recognition as Felix’s works; this quartet was almost certainly not shared beyond family and friends during her lifetime.
The Piano Quartet in A-flat Major (H55) is comprised of three movements. The first has a modified sonata form featuring brilliant piano passages reminiscent of Hummel, whom Fanny played often around this time. The second movement begins and ends with a slow and lyrical Larghetto in E-flat major, and has a quick middle section in F minor. The final movement begins with a minuet which again prominently features the piano, and ends with an energetic Presto.
Finishing the quartet was a struggle, and work was delayed by a family summer vacation to Switzerland, but she finally completed the work in November 1822, about a week after her 17th birthday.
Update - July 2023: This collection has been transcribed into braille by brailleorch.org! The braille score is linked on the landing page below: