The Russian musician of French descent, Grigory L'vovitch Catoire (1861-1926) is little known outside his country. However, this composer who was passionate about the French and German music of his time left to posterity a deeply touching work. Completed in 1921, his Quintet in G minor is considered his testamentary score. It expresses with passionate tenderness, the twilight of a romanticism that draws on Slavic as well as French and Germanic aesthetics. In this purely instrumental music, the human voice seems to sing with each new phrase, right up to the last pages that close as if in a dream.

The same is not true of Béla Bartók's (1881-1945) Piano Quintet in C major. It is a very young musician of 22 who puts a full stop to a piece of exceptional scope. The influence of Liszt's music permeates the writing of the young Hungarian school, captivated by the richness of a national culture. Quintet or sketch of a symphony... The performers have a lot to do in this music with a romantic feel. Bartók's personality asserts itself in the search for a new virtuosity and an elegance of gesture. Two qualities that already belong to the composer of the future Romanian Popular Dances.