Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937) is today primarily remembered for his organ compositions and as one of the greatest organists of all time. Widor was born in Lyons and studied first with his father, also an organist, and then at the Brussels Conservatory. In 1870, upon the recommendation of Charles Gounod and Camille Saint-Saëns, he was appointed to the most important position an organist could hold in France, the position of organist at Saint Sulpice Church in Paris. In 1890, he succeeded Cesar Franck as Professor of Organ at the Paris Conservatory, and many important composers, including Darius Milhaud, Louis Vierne, Marcel Dupre, and Edgar Varese, studied with him. He composed throughout his life in virtually every genre and left a considerable amount of chamber music. The fact that his chamber music, along with his other non-organ compositions, has been ignored is because of his towering contribution to the organ literature. But Cobbett's Cyclopedic Survey of Chamber Music states that his chamber music is of the first rank and as good as that of Saint-Saens.
In his chamber music, Widor displays a melodic elegance that is characteristically French. There is delicacy of texture and of tonal color, and yet, there is also much vigor and passages of great power. His Second Piano Quintet was completed in 1894 and published two years later. It was dedicated to the Hungarian pianist Geza Zichy. It is in four movements. The opening Moderato begins in dramatic fashion. The thematic material is presented in a rather free-form manner, approaching a kind of fantasia. The second movement, Andante, opens with the piano alone presenting a questioning theme. When the strings join in, the music turns more lyrical. The third movement, Allegro con fuoco, is a wild, energetic affair, full of pounding rhythms. The finale, Moderato, starts off with a perfumed sense of delicacy. Once again, the thematic material is presented in a free-form fashion.
This Quintet, which sounds like little else, deserves a chance to be heard in concert and is sure to be found interesting by audiences that get a chance to hear it.
