String Quartet No. 15 (Schubert)

Last updated

The String Quartet No. 15 in G major , D. 887, was the last quartet written by Franz Schubert in June 1826. [1] [2] It was posthumously published in 1851, as Op. 161. [3] The work focuses on lyrical ideas and explores far-reaching major and minor modes, which was uncommon to this degree in his compositions. Schubert reinforced this with a range of dynamic contrast and use of texture and pizzicato. [4] The structural form of the movements in this quartet are somewhat ambiguous due to Schubert's focus on lyricism rather than traditional harmonic structure. [5]

Contents

Analysis

The four movements of the quartet are:

  1. Allegro molto moderato (G major)
  2. Andante un poco moto (E minor)
  3. Scherzo. Allegro vivace – Trio. Allegretto (B minor)
  4. Allegro assai (G major)

The length of performance of the quartet is about 45 minutes.

I. Allegro molto moderato

The first movement is based around a motive of chromatic descending fourths within alternating major and minor modes. The main lyrical theme of the movement which begins with a sixteenth note pickup to a dotted eighth note will be heard in many variations throughout the rest of the movements of the quartet. [5] The first movement features extensive tremolo, which also leads into the repeat of the exposition. While many composers deconstruct a theme to smaller and smaller parts, Schubert is known for his lyricism and instead continually expands the theme. [6]

This may include the use of a motive in triplets to connect the first and second main groups of this sonata form; the second group opens, exactly as happens in the later-written String Quintet and similar to the technique in some works by Beethoven — not in the dominant key but with a quiet theme in the mediant, B-flat, with rhythm not quite the same as that of the lyrical theme that slowed matters down early on (bar fourteen, again), and adding to the texture with pizzicato accompaniment. There is a triplet-dominated, agitated transition and the same theme is heard, now in D, with triplet accompaniments; the triplets, not the theme, continue to the end of the exposition, and descend gradually from D down to G major for the repeat, or for the second ending and the beginning of the development, where continuity means the continued rustling of quiet strings, building for a bit by exchanging with more energetic passages, then bringing in faster versions of the dotted rhythms of the main themes. The climax of the development leads to a particularly quiet recapitulation, much varied at its opening from what we had heard originally. In the coda the opening of the quartet, both its rhythm and its major/minor exchanges, get a further chance to play themselves out.

There is a remarkably innovative harmonic passage in the first movement. Between mm. 414 and 429 Schubert prolongs G major with an equal subdivision of the octave using major thirds. Passing seventh chords in the bass provide a smooth linear progression connecting these major thirds, the result of which is a whole tone descent in the bass-voice, in this case the cello. The following major third prolongations occur: G(mm. 414-416) E-flat (mm. 417-418) B(mm. 419-420) G(mm. 421-422) E-flat(423-426). In measure 426 Schubert enharmonically reinterprets this dominant-seventh structure, resolving it as a German augmented 6th, thus proceeding bVI-V-I in mm. 427-429. [7]

II. Andante un poco moto

The dramatic slow movement contains much in the way of a march rhythm and sudden upward violin glissandos followed by drops to the lowest string, and again much use of tremolo. This movement utilizes dramatic variations of ideas between subsequent episodes. The first episode containing a harmonically static solo in the cello accompanied by pizzicato. It abruptly shifts to a fortissimo episode in m. 43 reinforced by way of unisons in rhythms and octaves. This dramatic return of the theme from the first idyllic one is unlike the resolution of the theme in the first movement. [5]

III. Scherzo. Allegro vivace – Trio. Allegretto

The scherzo is light-textured, fleet for much of its span, foreshadowing those of Mendelssohn. The trio is a mild accompanied duet, first between cello and first violin, then first violin and viola, then again cello and first violin. The trio's theme played by the cello is a reiteration of the second movement theme, also played by the cello. The third movement can be seen as a replication in form from the preceding movement. Here the scherzo and trio trade themes and in the second movement the theme and episodes similarly trade themes. [5]

IV. Allegro assai

The finale continues the ambiguous form of the preceding movements in an extended movement where it is unclear if the movement is in sonata or rondo, G major or G minor. The opening theme has more rapid extremes in its exchanges between major and minor modes than that of the first movement. The rhythms are reminiscent of a tarantella, as with that of the previous quartet — which the movement resembles in some capricious qualities.

The quartet was first published no later than 1852, by Diabelli of Vienna. [8]

Cultural legacy

In Woody Allen's 1989 comedy-drama Crimes and Misdemeanors , parts of the Allegro molto moderato (including the dotted rhythm of the opening) are used as a dramatic measure during several scenes that form central parts of the 'crimes' plot.

In Gramophone, Stephen Johnson referred to the work as Schubert's greatest string quartet, and speculated that it is heard less frequently than the composer's previous two quartets not because of lower quality but because it is less accessible. [9]

Recordings

Schubert's String Quartet No. 15 in G major (D. 887) has been recorded by many quartets, including: [10]

Related Research Articles

<i>Trout Quintet</i> Piano quintet by Franz Schubert

The Trout Quintet (Forellenquintett) is the popular name for the Piano Quintet in A major, D. 667, by Franz Schubert. The piano quintet was composed in 1819, when he was 22 years old; it was not published, however, until 1829, a year after his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Quintet (Schumann)</span> 1842 chamber work by Robert Schumann

The Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Op. 44, by Robert Schumann was composed in 1842 and received its first public performance the following year. Noted for its "extroverted, exuberant" character, Schumann's piano quintet is considered one of his finest compositions and a major work of nineteenth-century chamber music. Composed for piano and string quartet, the work revolutionized the instrumentation and musical character of the piano quintet and established it as a quintessentially Romantic genre.

The Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34, by Johannes Brahms was completed during the summer of 1864 and published in 1865. It was dedicated to Her Royal Highness Princess Anna of Hesse. As with most piano quintets composed after Robert Schumann's Piano Quintet (1842), it is written for piano and string quartet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">String Quartet No. 11 (Beethoven)</span>

Ludwig van Beethoven's String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Op. 95, from 1810, was his last before his late string quartets. It is commonly referred to as the "Serioso," stemming from his title "Quartett[o] Serioso" at the beginning and the tempo designation for the third movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">String Quartet No. 14 (Schubert)</span>

The String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, D 810, known as Death and the Maiden, is a piece by Franz Schubert that has been called "one of the pillars of the chamber music repertoire". It was composed in 1824, after the composer suffered a serious illness and realized that he was dying. It is named for the theme of the second movement, which Schubert took from a song he wrote in 1817 of the same title. But, writes Walter Willson Cobbett, all four movements of the quartet are welded "into a unity under the pressure of a dominating idea - the dance of death."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symphony No. 1 (Brahms)</span> Symphony by Johannes Brahms

The Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68, is a symphony written by Johannes Brahms. Brahms spent at least fourteen years completing this work, whose sketches date from 1854. Brahms himself declared that the symphony, from sketches to finishing touches, took 21 years, from 1855 to 1876. The premiere of this symphony, conducted by the composer's friend Felix Otto Dessoff, occurred on 4 November 1876, in Karlsruhe, then in the Grand Duchy of Baden. A typical performance lasts between 45 and 50 minutes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">String Quintet (Schubert)</span> String quintet composition by Franz Schubert

Franz Schubert's final chamber work, the String Quintet in C major is sometimes called the "Cello Quintet" because it is scored for a standard string quartet plus an extra cello instead of the extra viola which is more usual in conventional string quintets. It was composed in 1828 and completed just two months before the composer's death. The first public performance of the piece did not occur until 1850, and publication occurred three years later in 1853. Schubert's only full-fledged string quintet, it has been praised as "sublime" or "extraordinary" and as possessing "bottomless pathos," and is generally regarded as Schubert's finest chamber work as well as one of the greatest compositions in all chamber music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">String Quartet No. 10 (Beethoven)</span>

Ludwig van Beethoven's String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat major, Op. 74, was written in 1809 and is nicknamed the "Harp" quartet.

Antonín Dvořák's Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major Op. 81, B. 155, is a quintet for piano, 2 violins, viola, and cello. It was composed between August 18 and October 8, 1887, and was premiered in Prague on January 6, 1888. The quintet is acknowledged as one of the masterpieces in the form, along with those of Schumann, Brahms and Shostakovich.

The six String Quartets, Op. 76, by Joseph Haydn were composed in 1797 or 1798 and dedicated to the Hungarian count Joseph Georg von Erdődy (1754–1824). They form the last complete set of string quartets that Haydn composed. At the time of the commission, Haydn was employed at the court of Prince Nicolaus Esterházy II and was composing the oratorio The Creation as well as Princess Maria Hermenegild Esterházy's annual mass.

The Symphony No. 2 in B♭ major, D 125, is a symphony by Franz Schubert composed between 1814 and 1815. It is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani and strings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Quartet No. 3 (Brahms)</span> Piano Quartet by Johannes Brahms

The Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor, Op. 60, completed by Johannes Brahms in 1875, is scored for piano, violin, viola and cello. It is sometimes called the Werther Quartet after Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther. The premiere took place in Vienna on November 18, 1875, to an anxious public. Richard Wagner and his wife Cosima were in attendance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Quartet No. 1 (Brahms)</span>

The Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25, was composed by Johannes Brahms between 1856 and 1861. It was premiered in 1861 in Hamburg, with Clara Schumann at the piano. It was also played in Vienna on 16 November 1862, with Brahms himself at the piano supported by members of the Hellmesberger Quartet. Like most piano quartets, it is scored for piano, violin, viola, and cello.

String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 111, is a work by Johannes Brahms composed in 1890 and published in 1891. It is known as the Prater Quintet. Brahms intended it to be his last piece of music, though he later produced a number of piano pieces and the two sonatas for clarinet or viola and piano. The first performance of the Quintet in Vienna on November 11, 1890 was a sensation.

String Quartet No. 4 by Walter Piston is a chamber-music work composed in 1951.

Carl Nielsen's String Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Opus 13, was first performed privately on 18 December 1889 in Copenhagen. It was the first of Nielsen's four string quartets in the official series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Quartet (Schumann)</span> Piano Quartet by Robert Schumann (1842)

The Piano Quartet in E♭ major, Op. 47, was composed by Robert Schumann in 1842 for piano, violin, viola and cello. Written during a productive period in which he produced several large-scale chamber music works, it has been described as the "creative double" of his Piano Quintet, finished weeks earlier. Though dedicated to the Russian cellist Mathieu Wielhorsky, it was written with Schumann's wife Clara in mind, who would be the pianist at the premiere on 8 December 1844 in Leipzig.

The String Quartet in D major is the only string quartet composed by César Franck. The work was written from 1889 to 1890.

String Quartet No. 4 in C minor, Stiles 1.2.3.3 SQ4, was completed by Alfred Hill on 25 July 1916 in Neutral Bay, Sydney. It is dedicated to Henri Verbrugghen and his Verbrugghen String Quartet. It is Hill's first non-program string quartet. The first two movements were transcribed for orchestra in 1955 forming the basis of the Symphony No. 4 "The Pursuit of Happiness" in which this music turns to have a program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piano Quartet No. 2 (Fauré)</span>

Gabriel Fauré's Piano Quartet No. 2, in G minor, Op. 45, is one of the two chamber works he wrote for the conventional piano quartet combination of piano, violin, viola and cello. It was first performed in 1887, seven years after his first quartet.

References

  1. ↑ "Schubert Worklist (Chamber Music)". The Schubert Institute (UK). Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ↑ "Schubert, Franz ( Peter )". Grove Music Online (8th ed.). Oxford University Press. 2001. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.25109. ISBN   978-1-56159-263-0.
  3. ↑ Brown, Maurice John Edwin; Sams, Eric (1983). The New Grove Schubert. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 72. ISBN   978-0-393-31586-8.
  4. ↑ "String Quartet in G major, D.887 (Schubert, Franz) - IMSLP: Free Sheet Music PDF Download". imslp.org. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Frisch, Walter (2000). "'You Must Remember This': Memory and Structure in Schubert's String Quartet in G Major, D. 887". The Musical Quarterly. 84 (4): 582–603. doi:10.1093/mq/84.4.582. JSTOR   742597.
  6. ↑ Burstein, Poundie (1997). "Lyricism, Structure, and Gender in Schubert's G Major String Quartet". The Musical Quarterly. 81 (1): 51–63. doi:10.1093/mq/81.1.51. JSTOR   742449.
  7. ↑ Aldwell, Edward; Schachter, Carl (1989). Harmony and voice leading (2nd ed.). San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. pp. 544–5. ISBN   0-15-531519-6. OCLC   19029983.
  8. ↑ Hofmeisters Monatsberichte
  9. ↑ Johnson, Stephen (2013-01-09). "Schubert String Quartet, D887". www.gramophone.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-11-25.
  10. ↑ "Schubert: String Quartet No. 15 in G Major, D887". Presto Classical Limited. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.