Four Centuries of Great Music March 2, 2023 More Chamber Music

Over the next couple of week I am weaning us off of chamber music by mixing chamber music form composers you may not know with composers that will be very familiar.

We start tonight with Bela Bartok and his String Quartet #3, SZ 85

Although the is divided into four parts
1.  Prima parte: Moderato
2.  Seconda parte: Allegro
3.  Ricapitulazione della prima parte: Moderato
4.  Coda: Allegro molto
it is played attacca - without breaks:

The mood of the first part is quite bleak with interrelated melodic elements which are continually interrupted by harsh outbursts and glissandos.  This contrasts with the second part which is livelier and provides evidence of the inspiration Bartók drew from Hungarian folk music, with dance-like melodies to the fore.
Despite Bartók calling the third section a "recapitulation" it is not a straight repetition of the music from the prima parte, being somewhat varied and simplified. Although not marked as such, the coda is in fact a telescoped recapitulation of the seconda parte and leads to a very pleasing ending.

The work is even more harmonically adventurous and contrapuntally complex than Bartók's previous two string quartets and explores a number of extended instrumental techniques, including sul ponticello (playing with the bow as close as possible to the bridge), col legno (playing with the wood rather than the hair of the bow), and glissandi.




Next is Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky String Quartet No. 1 in D Major, Op. 11

The quartet has four movements: Moderato e semplice;  Andante cantabile;  Scherzo. Allegro non tanto e con fuoco – Trio and Finale. Allegro giusto – Allegro vivace

The First movement  marked Moderato e semplice is a well-crafted in sonata form. The opening theme is played by the quartet, softly, in unison, syncopated within the unusual meter of 9/8. The unity of the quartet divides into a multiplicity of flowing, contrapuntal lines with shorter, quicker notes in an exciting departure into greater complexity. The ensemble joins together again to sing the second theme in simple unity only to split again into a luxurious flurry of ornamentation. The development gives full flight to the contrapuntal lines, bringing them to the foreground against the background of the original syncopated theme sped up as a pulsating accompaniment. A wonderfully dense but crystal clear texture reaches a climax before the return of opening material. A brilliant coda maximizes the long line of acceleration culminating with an extended sequence of rapid chords, with the original syncopated rhythm pushed as fast as the music allows.

With the poignant second movement marked Andante cantabile is probably one of Tchaikovsky’s greatest hits, and is often played separately from the rest of the string quartet.   The music alternates between the folk theme and a contrasting section of Tchaikovsky's own inspiration that is instantly recognizable as within the vein of his most characteristic style. This lovely little dream has been transcribed for numerous instrumental combinations as a separate, standalone piece including a version Tchaikovsky arranged for cello and orchestra.

The Scherzo, marked Allegro non tanto e con fuoco,  matches the heartfelt folk song of the slow movement with a vigorous peasant dance. It is heavy with unison playing, sharp rhythmic accents, strong dynamics and the stout severity of a minor key. The trio is a curious combination of frivolity and ponderous chromaticism that, in standard form, returns to the animated Scherzo.

The finale is a combination of sonata and rondo form full of bristling vigor, wonderful quartet textures, unmistakable touches of Tchaikovsky's lyrical drama and tinged, in parts, with a distinctly Russian cast. It is one of the finest chamber music movements he wrote. With its poise, balance and concision, it is utterly classical in the true sense of the word. In fact, it is oddly reminiscent of Mozart. Writing such piece in 1871, Tchaikovsky could well be considered one of the first neoclassicists, though, in place of any modernist irony, Tchaikovsky expresses only affectionate sincerity.

George Gershwin:  Lullaby for String Quartet

We are going to close this first hour of chamber music by familiar and unfamiliar composers with the Lullaby for String Quartet by George Gershwin.  This work was written in 1919 or 1920 but was not published until 1968.  Apparently after using part of the theme for a one act opera Blue Monday (which closed right after it opened), Gershwin lost interest in this piece.  True to its name, the piece moves slowly and softly (constantly muted) with hypnotic repetition. Delicate harmonics in the first violin introduce the limping figure that becomes the cello’s accompaniment to the stepwise, chordal theme in the upper voices. The colorful harmonies and syncopated rhythms are somewhat bluesy and suggestive of ragtime. Changes in texture (higher registers and different accompaniment) add interest to the repetitions. A middle section develops thematic ideas, keeping the syncopated motion, except for brief “Recitative” solos in the violin and cello. Even though the return of the first section is strong (con fuoco), it soon ends delicately with harmonics in all voices and airy pizzicatos.


Antonin Dvorak: Piano Quintet in A major, Op. 81

Lets open this second hour of chamber music by composers you know and some perhaps you do not know with Antonin Dvorak’s Piano Quintet in A major, Op. 81.  The Quintet has four movements: Allegro, ma non tanto; Dumka: Andante con moto; Scherzo (Furiant): Molto vivace; Finale: Allegro and is probably one of the on the mount rushmore of Piano Quintets along with those of Schumann, Brahms and Shostakovich. 

Virgil Thomson: String Quartet #2

Lets close todays Four Centuries of Great Music with a composer you might not be familiar with and who fits right in with our previous 12 weeks of chamber music that needs to be programmed and that is American composer Virgil Thomson.  Although he studied and lived in France for 15 years from 1925 to 1940 and was greatly influenced by members of “Le Six”, He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music. He has been described as a modernist, a neoromantic, and a neoclassicist,

We will be listening to his second string     quartet written in 1932.  It is in 4 movements, Allegro moderato; Tempo di valzer, adagio moderato and allegretto.

Thank you for joining us today on Four Centuries of Great Music and join us again next week for at least one more show of chamber music.