Debussy's La Damoiselle Élue happens to be the ensemble's "signature" piece, as it was originally a work in which Debussy set a text by Gabriel Dante Rossetti. It features Debussy’s early mature style, which blends Wagnerian influences with the impressionistic, modal, and luminous orchestral colours he became famous for. Here, John Lenehan has charmingly arranged the Prélude for piano quartet. 

A performance of Schubert’s ”Trout Quintet” is always an occasion! Its festive, high-spirited mood is a complete contrast to the dark soul-searching of much of his late chamber music, reflecting the music’s origins as a summer holiday piece written for friends. The fourth of its five movements is a set of variations on his own song Die Forelle (The Trout). 

Schubert wrote for a complement of strings including a double bass, rather than the more usual second violin. How kind of Vaughan Williams to solve the potential programming conundrum with his own 1903 C minor Piano Quintet for the same forces. This work was written early in the composer’s career, and is still very much in thrall to the German Romantic school, especially Brahms. After a few early performances Vaughan Williams supressed the piece as unrepresentative of his emerging style founded on the English folk idiom and the work remained unperformed until 1999, its stirring Romanticism leading to enthusiastically received performances.

The Rossetti Ensemble (named after the pre-Raphaelite artist) has been thrilling audiences since their formation in 2018. Most frequently appearing as a piano quartet, they are joined for this concert by the celebrated double bass player, Leon Bosch.