String Quartet (Debussy)

String Quartet
by Claude Debussy
Debussy in 1884
Key	G minor
Catalogue	L 91
Opus	10
Form	String quartet
Composed	1892–1893
Duration	About 25 minutes
Movements	Four
Premiere
Date	December 29, 1893 (1893-12-29)
Location	Société Nationale in Paris
Performers	Ysaÿe Quartet

Claude Debussy completed his String Quartet in G minor, Op. 10 (L.91), in 1893, when he was 31 years old. It is Debussy's only string quartet.

Background

In 1892, Debussy had just abandoned the opera Rodrigue et Chimène . He planned to write two string quartets, only one of which he completed. The quartet was meant to be dedicated to composer Ernest Chausson, but Chausson's personal reservations diverted this intention. ^[1]

The quartet received its premiere on December 29, 1893, by the Ysaÿe Quartet at the Société Nationale in Paris, France, to mixed reactions.

Analysis

The work consists of four movements:

1. Animé et très décidé (G minor – D minor – G minor)
2. Assez vif et bien rythmé (G major – E♭ major – G major)
3. Andantino, doucement expressif (D♭ major – C♯ minor – D♭ major)
4. Très modéré – En animant peu à peu – Très mouvementé et avec passion (D♭ major – G minor – C major – G major)

Its sensuality and impressionistic tonal shifts are emblematic of its time and place and its cyclic structure constitutes a divorce from the rules of classical harmony into a new style. After its premiere, composer Guy Ropartz described the quartet as "dominated by the influence of young Russia; there are poetic themes, rare sonorities, the first two movements being particularly remarkable." ^[1] Debussy said that "Any sounds in any combination and in any succession are henceforth free to be used in a musical continuity."^{[ citation needed ]}

Maurice Ravel, another impressionist composer, wrote a string quartet that is modeled on Debussy's.

References

Citations

1. Jameson, Michael. "String Quartet". AllMusic . Retrieved 2018-02-20.

External links

• String Quartet in G Minor : Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Performance of String Quartet by the Borromeo String Quartet at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in MP3 format
• 'Debussy Quartet in G minor, Op. 10', lecture by Roger Parker and performance by the Badke Quartet at Gresham College, 29 January 2008
• Notes by Ong Yong Hui (archived via Internet Archive)
• Notes by Keith Anderson