Adolphe Biarent (1871-1916)

[Ilja]

I only got around to listening to this properly yesterday, but I'm glad I did. It's an odd work, and not really what you'd expect from a piece that's described as a Piano Quintet. Fundamentally, it consists of two introspective, somewhat moody (particularly the first movement) instrumental poems separated by a brief scherzo. Still, it somehow holds together better than one would think from that description. If I want to voice a reservation, it's that the opening movement is perhaps just a tad too long for its material, but that argument certainly can't be levelled against the other two, both of which are lively and entertaining. There's surprising depth in this piece, but it took me a few re-listens to appreciate it.

Biarent's legacy has unfortunately suffered on account of his being both Walloon and a nationally recognized composer. I might have touched on this before (in which case, apologies for the needle stuck in the groove), but it's a by-product of the somewhat insane "Waffle Iron" policy of distributing public money evenly between the Flemish and Walloon parts of Belgium during the 1980s. I won't bore you with the details, but the upshot was that we long had next to no attention for Walloon composers such as Biarent and Adolphe, too little for nationally significant Belgian composers (e.g., Gilson, Jongen) and a disproportionate representation of local Flemish ones (Meulemans, De Boeck, Ryelandt). And that's also why Charleroi now has a light rail system the size of Antwerp's without the population to make it practical.

[eschiss1]

For myself, I have heard a CD of the piano quintet - years ago, at my college library I think - and thought well of it, but have seen neither manuscript nor typeset of the score. I look forward to hearing it again.