From 1914 to 1918 the entire world was engulfed in the first global conflict of its kind. There was no way to predict the carnage, death and destruction that was to come, with an estimated total death count of over 8 million and 21 million wounded. France was one of the hardest hit countries for deaths with over a million being killed and over 4 million wounded. Louis Vierne composed his Piano Quintet In C Minor in 1917 as a memorial to his son that had recently been killed in the war.Vierne was born nearly blind with congenital cataracts in 1870, but showed remarkable aptitude for music at a very early age. As Vierne described it:
I came into the world almost completely blind; my parents cosseted me with special warmth, which very early brought about what might be called an almost pathological sensitivity on my part...This state of affairs pursued me my whole life long and gave me of periods of joy, but also periods of inexpressible sorrow.After graduating from the Paris Conservatory he began his career as did many French musicians of hie era as a teacher, organist, and composer. He was the living the organist at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris from 1900 until he died in 1937 while he was giving an organ recital. He wrote extensively for the organ and is most well known for those works, but his piano quintet is one of his few chamber works. It is in three movements:
I. Poco lento - Moderato - Vierne's music is known for its chromaticism, a feature that was influenced by Cesar Franck. In the first movement Vierne begins with an introduction with the key signature of C minor, but any tonal center remains a mystery as the music slithers through almost all of the twelve notes of the chromatic scale. The bleak mood is hardly lifted as the first theme begins. The second theme is ushered in by the cello over chords in the piano. The movement is in sonata form, but Vierne blends themes and sections so skillfully that it can be difficult for the ear to find its way. The music is beautiful while also being disconcerting in places as the grief of the composer comes out in the music. The rawness of the emotion dies down as the music ends in C major.
II. Larghetto sostenuto - The strings begin the movement, and when the piano enters in becomes the catalyst for music that slowly intensifies until a climax is reached in the middle section. There are moments that recall the first movement as well as the beginning of this movement. After the turbulent middle section, the music winds down and assumes the mood of the beginning of the movement, and it ends in E minor.
III. Maestoso - Allegro molto risoluto - The final movement's opening belong to the solo piano that pounds out sharply accented, odd-sounding chords. These chords are met by the utterance of the strings. The piano returns to tremolo strings, the music quiets, and the tremolo strings begin again. The actual first theme in G minor begins and leads to a fugal section. Themes from the other movements are heard again, especially the second theme of the first movement. There is a jauntiness to the rhythm until a section of eerie quietness occurs in the solo piano. The strings add to the atmosphere and a theme from the second movement is heard. The music becomes loud and fast again and it leads up to a fiery coda that ends in C minor.
After the death of Vierne's son, his sorrows did not end. In 1918 his youngest brother was also killed in WWI.