Quartet

Fini Henriques’ Quartet for Flute, Violin, Cello and Piano was left among his papers after his death. The manuscript remained in the possession of his family but eventually found its way to a library in Copenhagen where Michael Schroeter, an amateur cellist and chamber music enthusiast came across it. He wrote “In my search of such works in Copenhagen, I came upon a manuscript entitled "chamber quartet" for flute, violin, cello, and piano composed in 1937 by Fini Henriques. I procured photocopies and spent my spare time for about a year producing parts with the aid of a computer. We (an amateur group) played the piece in private and enjoyed it very much. In 2016, in her home town in northern Denmark, my wife organized what was probably the first public performance of the Quartet. It was broadcast on Danish Radio.”

In October of 2017, Mr Schroeter approached us and asked if we would be interested in publishing this work. After hearing it, we agreed with Mr Schroeter that it deserved to ‘see the light of day’. That is to say, we believe that this Quartet will make a worthy addition to the scant repertoire for flute, violin, cello and piano. We are indebted to Mr Schroeter of Prien am Chiemsee in Bavaria for providing us with the music, which he has carefully edited. The Quartet is in three movements and is written in a post Brahmsian, late Romantic style. It begins with a powerful and thrusting Allegro energico. The lovely and somewhat sad middle movement, Andantino cantabile, brings to mind the jazz idiom of the blues. Though there is no scherzo, a playful middle section serves that purpose. The finale, Allegro, is a dance-like, mid 20th century rondo. We are pleased to present this world premiere edition and warmly recommend it to both amateurs and professionals alike.

Fini Henriques (1867-1940) was born in Copenhagen. He studied the violin and piano in his youth and was considered a child prodigy on both instruments. He initially concentrated on violin, first studying at the Royal Danish Conservatory with Valdemar Tofft, a student of Louis Spohr. However, he also took composition lessons from Johan Svendsen. He concluded his studies at the Berlin Hochschule with Joseph Joachim for violin and Woldemar Bargiel for composition. Returning to Denmark, he enjoyed a long career as a soloist, becoming one of Denmark’s most popular and beloved concert artists. He also founded a string quartet and chamber music society. In addition to his career as a soloist, he composed throughout his life, leaving operas, symphonies, ballets, and chamber music. Today he is mostly remembered for his very appealing short works for violin and piano.