String Quartet No. 1 (Piston)

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String Quartet No. 1 by Walter Piston is a chamber-music work composed in 1933.

Contents

History

Piston's first string quartet was premiered on March 7, 1933, by the Chardon Quartet, to whom it is dedicated. It is a charming but by no means bland work that later became a favorite of the Juilliard Quartet. [1] Aaron Copland singled out this quartet, praising its "acidulous opening movement, the poetic mood painting of its second, and its breezy finale", all of which "sets a superb standard of taste and of expert string writing". [2] .

Analysis

The quartet is in three movements:

  1. Allegro (3
    4    )
  2. Adagio (8
    8    )
  3. Allegro vivace (2
    4    , 5
    8    )

The first movement is in sonata-allegro form in a mixed C major/C minor. The harmonic language stresses chords based on perfect fourths, and features the chromatic, dissonant counterpoint characteristic of Piston's early period. [3] A nightmarish quality is produced by the approach to the F minor second, waltz-like theme through C♯ minor. [1] The second movement is a simple ABA in E minor, with the strings muted in the brooding, chromatic outer sections, and an unmuted fugato in sharply dotted rhythms in the central part. [3] This movement especially features the cello. [1] The rondo finale is based throughout on a repeated-note motive of three sixteenth notes, and the first subject recalls the quartet's opening movement by alternating C and D♭. [3] The string writing here is expert and spectacular, with some disorienting harmonic twists. [1]

Discography

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Pollack 1982, 42.
  2. ↑ Copland 1968, 132.
  3. 1 2 3 DeVoto 1988.

Sources

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