Front Row Washington

Ensemble 4.1 was founded in Germany in 2013 by four leading orchestral wind players and pianist Thomas Hoppe to perform quintets for piano and wind instruments alongside pieces for smaller combinations. The first half of this concert is devoted to chamber works by Francis Poulenc, whose music for wind instruments is some of the most delightful of the 20th century. From the ebullient Trio written in 1926 to two works from the 1950s: Elégie for horn and piano written in memory of the great horn player Dennis Brain, and the Clarinet Sonata, commissioned by Benny Goodman. The final work on the program is a rarity: the 1919 Quintet for Piano and Wind by the great pianist Walter Gieseking.

Thomas Hoppe, piano
Jörg Schneider, oboe
Alexander Glücksmann, clarinet
Christoph Knitt, bassoon
Fritz Pahlmann, horn

This concert took place at the Cosmos Club while the Phillips Collection is under renovation