| Voces intimae | |
|---|---|
| String quartet by Jean Sibelius | |
 The composer in 1913 | |
| Key | D minor |
| Opus | 56 |
| Composed | 1909 |
| Performed | 25 April 1910 |
| Movements | 5 |
| Scoring |
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Voces intimae (English translation: "Intimate voices" or "Inner voices"), Op. 56, is a five-movement string quartet written in 1909 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. He composed the work in D minor. It is the only major work for string quartet of his mature period. [1]
As a student, Sibelius composed several works for string quartet. In 1885 he finished a string quartet in E-flat major, followed in 1889, after quite a few individual movements for this combination, by a string quartet in A minor. The first string quartet to receive an opus number was in 1890 the quartet Op. 4 in B-flat major. [1] Afterwards he wrote no string quartets until Voces intimae in 1909. Composed between his Third and Fourth Symphony, [2] it remained "the only major work for string quartet of Sibelius's mature period". [1]
Sibelius composed the quartet from December 1908, working on it in London in early 1909. The Latin title, translating to "Intimate Voices" or "Inner voices", marks a "conversational quality" [2] and "inwardness" of the music. The composer wrote about his work in a letter to his wife: "It turned out as something wonderful. The kind of thing that brings a smile to your lips at the hour of death. I will say no more." [1] Sibelius showed it to his publisher Robert Lienau on 15 April 1909. [1]
The first performance was on 25 April 1910 at the Helsinki Music Institute. A review in the Helsingin Sanomat noted: "The composition attracted a great deal of attention, and it is undoubtedly one of the most brilliant products in its field. It is not a composition for the public at large, it is so eccentric and out of the ordinary." [1] Sibelius later wrote about the composition: "The melodic material is good but the harmonic material could be 'lighter', and even 'more like a quartet.'" [1]
Sibelius structured the quartet in five movements: [1]
The work opens with a dialogue of violin and cello. [2] The first movement contrasts "murmurous figuration with firm chords". [2] The second movement is a scherzo in A major, connected to the first by musical motifs. [2] The central slow movement has been described as a "soulful quest for serenity in F major". It contains "three detached, soft chords in E minor, remote from any of the previous harmonic implications", [2] to which Sibelius added the "voces intimae" in a friend's score. [2] A second scherzo is also connected by motivic similarity to the first movement. The finale, "with more than a hint of folk fiddling", [2] grows in intensity by markings from Allegro to "sempre più energico" (always more energetic), described as "fiercely accented music of forceful contrasts but irresistible momentum". [2]
The Finnish violinist and composer Pekka Kuusisto has arranged the work for chamber orchestra, which was included in Kuusisto's 2009 Australian tour with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. [3]
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