String Quartet (Debussy)

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String Quartet
by Claude Debussy
Claude Debussy by Marcel Baschet 1884.jpg
Claude Debussy in 1884
Key G minor
Catalogue L 91
Opus 10
Form String quartet
Composed1892–1893
DurationAbout 25 minutes
MovementsFour
Premiere
DateDecember 29, 1893 (1893-12-29)
LocationSociété 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.

Contents

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 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 wrote that "Any sounds in any combination and in any succession are henceforth free to be used in a musical continuity." [2]

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

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References

Citations

  1. 1 2 Jameson, Michael. "String Quartet". AllMusic . Retrieved 2018-02-20.
  2. ↑ Modernism and Music: An Anthology of Sources. Edited by Daniel Albright. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 2004. p. 191. ISBN   0226012670. OCLC   52845745.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)


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