Louis Victor Saar (1868-1937)

Nationality: American | Dutch

Born: December 10, 1868, Rotterdam, Netherlands Died: November 23, 1937, St. Louis, MO (age 68)

wikipedia | imslp

Piano Quartet in e minor, Op. 39

(for violin, viola, cello and piano)

		I.	Allegro non troppo un poco sostenuto
		II.	Adagio
		III.	Allegro molto vivace, quasi Presto
		IV.	Allegro con brio

Premiere: January 20, 1903. New York. Mendelssohn Hall by Katherine Ruth Heymann and members of the Mannes Quartet

Published: 1901 (age 32-33)

glossary

adagio [It]—slow tempo, often implying a lyrical, poignant character
allegro [I]—fast, lively tempo. From the Italian word for cheerful or gay.
brio [I], con brio, brioso—vigor, vigorously, with fire
chamber music, Kammermusik [G], musique de chambre [F], musica da camera [I], musica cameralis [L]—"Classical Music" for a small ensemble, generally 8 or fewer players with a canonical emphasis on 3-6 players. explore
con [I,S]—with
molto [It]—very much
opus [L], opera[pl], Op., Opp, WoO, Op. posth—work, as in a work of art. For unique identification, publishers/composers often assign an "opus number", abbreviated as "Op." (e.g. Op. 1). A range of works by opus number, uses the plural "opp." (e.g. "Opp. 1-3"). A single opus number may refer to a collection of works (e.g. a set of quartets) giving rise to designations like "Op. 1, No. 4". For misc. works without opus numbers, "WoO" is often used (e.g."Without Opus"). Posthumously assigned numbers may use "Op. posth". Opus numbers may not precisely reflect chronology (publication vs. composition), can be erroneous, sparse or duplicative. Thus, the works of some historically important composers may use separate catalog numbers (e.g. Bach, Haydn, Schubert). See wiki
piano quartet, Klavierquartett [G], Quatuor avec piano [F]—a ensemble (work) comprising violin, viola, cello and piano. Most of the great Classical and Romantic composers produced one or more works for this combination of which many are masterworks of chamber music.
poco, un poco, poco a poco—a little bit, e.g. "andante un poco moto" is andante with a little more motion than typical. "poco a poco" means a little bit at a time, gradually.
presto—very fast, more so than allegro.
quartet, quatuor [F], quartett [G], quartetto [I], cuarteto [S]—ensemble or work for four players the most important examples being the string quartet and the piano quartet
quasi—almost, almost like, as if
sostenuto [I], soutenu [F]—sustained, perhaps a bit slow
troppo [I], non troppo, trop [F]—too, too much. non troppo means "not too much". e.g. "Allegro ma non troppo" means fast, but not too much
vivace—brisk, lively tempo faster than allegro