Impromptu for Piano Quartet, op. 9b

The Impromptu in A flat major for piano quartet op. 9b of Dora Pejačević is the composer’s own arrangement of the similarly named piano piece, an inspired and impressive document of the musical talent of her as a fourteen year old. Although in this miniature Dora Pejačević had not yet developed her distinctive musical idiom that was to come into sharper focus in the central phase of her work, still, her innate melodic gifts did come to the fore in this refined and deeply felt melody. The composer wrote the Impromptu in A flat major for piano, op. 9a, in 1899; it was published by Harmonia of Budapest in 1902, in the collection named 6 Stücke für das Pianoforte von G. Dora Pejacsevich. Retaining the original notation, Dora Pejačević later arranged the work for piano quartet, designating it opus 9b. Since the piano text of the Impromptu was conceived instrumentally, and every section in the piano facture has its own individual polyphonic physiognomy, the composer found it easy to write this very successful version of the piece for piano quartet. And while the mood of the first part is melancholic and contoured in dark colours, the second and central part is full of light, featuring a romantic and rather dreamy Schumannesque atmosphere.