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Chamber music meanders throughout Frank Martin’s career in a multitude of different ensembles and titles, ranging from the classical to the more unexpected, such as the Rhapsodie for string quintet with double bass, the Sonata da chiesa for viola d’amore and organ, the Ballade for trombone and piano or the Petite fanfare for brass sextet. Within this abundance, the composer approached only sparingly the most historically established genres. His only string quartet is a late work, his last chamber music piece. On the contrary, the Quintet for piano and strings and the Pavane couleur du temps are among his earliest contributions in this field. It is often said that the Quintet’s slow movement recalls Frank Martin’s fascination for Johann Sebastian Bach. Admittedly, the haunting triplets that open the piece would not be out of place in a Passion written by the German master, but the analogy doesn’t go much beyond that. The composer creates a perfect sense of chiaroscuro between this sombre accompaniment and the luminous arpeggios of the first violin and the viola. A post-romantic tone is heard here, culminating in the central section where the first violin’s playing in sixths and thirds contributes to a polyphony of exacerbated lyricism while the piano remains silent. The strings alone again play the nearly first sixty bars of the finale. The last movement alternates between fugal writing and more transparent passages, with the composer constantly varying the instrumental textures with much ingenuity. Amid this fireworks display, a popular Savoy melody can even be heard. The Pavane couleur du temps was written for a string quintet in 1920 and then arranged for a small orchestra in 1954. It takes its name from Charles Perrault’s fairy tale Peau d’âne (Donkeyskin), in which a princess, seeking to avoid a dreaded marriage, tests her future and undesirable husband by requesting a gown “the colour of the sky”. Both the title and the reference to Perrault associate the piece with Ravel, who opened Ma Mère l’Oye with the Pavane de la Belle au Bois dormant inspired by the same author. The pavane, a court dance that originated in Italy in the 16th century, came back into fashion at the end of the 19th century thanks to composers such as Camille Saint-Saëns, Ralph Vaughan Williams and, of course, Ravel. Martin’s score has a noblesse and a melodic contour similar to his colleague’s but adds a faster, more tormented middle section. It is a perfect illustration of the French influences to which Martin was then receptive. The Terpsycordes Quartet redefines the connection between a musical ensemble and its audience. It invents new ways to experience a concert of chamber music and is committed to reaching underprivileged as well as young audiences, in order to share its art with as many people as possible.