Music on Thursdays - Online
Thursday 4th June 2020
Music for String Quartet
Artistes:
Alban Berg Quartet • Jasper String Quartet • Tetra String Quartet
Starts: when you are ready
Note: latecomers will be admitted at your personal discretion
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String Quartets: Beethoven & Haydn
Programme
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
String Quartet No 9 in C major, Razumovsky Op 59 No 3 (1808)
i Introduzione. Andante con moto – Allegro vivace (C major)
Introduction. Moderately slow, with forward movement - Fast and lively
ii Andante con moto quasi allegretto (A minor) Moderately slow, with forward movement almost slightly fast
iii Minuetto (Grazioso) (C major) & Trio (F major) Minuet (Graceful) & Trio
iv Allegro molto (C major) Very fast
performed by the Alban Berg Quartett
Franz Josef Haydn (1732-1809)
String Quartet No 64 in D major, Op 76 No 5 Hob III:79 (1796-97)
Largo or Friedhofsquartett Slow, stately or Graveyard quartet
i Allegretto Fairly quick
ii Largo. Cantabile e mesto Slow, stately. A singing style and sad.
iii Menuetto. Allegro Slow, graceful, as a minuet. Fast
iv Finale. Presto Finale. Very fast
performed by the Jasper String Quartet
ENCORE
Franz Josef Haydn
from String Quartet No Op 33 No 3 Hob III:39 (1781) The Bird
iv Finale. Rondo - Presto Finale, Rondo (recurring section) - Very fast.
performed by the Tetra String Quartet
String Quartet No 9 in C major, Razumovsky Op 59 No 3 (1808)
i Introduzione. Andante con moto – Allegro vivace (C major)
Introduction. Moderately slow, with forward movement - Fast and lively
ii Andante con moto quasi allegretto (A minor) Moderately slow, with forward movement almost slightly fast
iii Minuetto (Grazioso) (C major) & Trio (F major) Minuet (Graceful) & Trio
iv Allegro molto (C major) Very fast
performed by the Alban Berg Quartett
Franz Josef Haydn (1732-1809)
String Quartet No 64 in D major, Op 76 No 5 Hob III:79 (1796-97)
Largo or Friedhofsquartett Slow, stately or Graveyard quartet
i Allegretto Fairly quick
ii Largo. Cantabile e mesto Slow, stately. A singing style and sad.
iii Menuetto. Allegro Slow, graceful, as a minuet. Fast
iv Finale. Presto Finale. Very fast
performed by the Jasper String Quartet
ENCORE
Franz Josef Haydn
from String Quartet No Op 33 No 3 Hob III:39 (1781) The Bird
iv Finale. Rondo - Presto Finale, Rondo (recurring section) - Very fast.
performed by the Tetra String Quartet
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click on an image to expand it
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Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) String Quartet No 9 in C major, Razumovsky Op 59 No 3 (1808) i Introduzione. Andante con moto – Allegro vivace (C major) Introduction. Moderately slow, with forward movement - Fast and lively ii Andante con moto quasi allegretto (A minor) Moderately slow, with forward movement almost slightly fast iii Minuetto (Grazioso) (C major) & Trio (F major) Minuet (Graceful) & Trio iv Allegro molto (C major) Very fast performed by the Alban Berg Quartett Günter Pichler, violin Gerhard Schulz, violin Thomas Kakuska, viola Valentin Erben, cello just be calm and ready for the attack of the first chord... |
Count Razumovsky / Rasumovsky and in full Andreas Kyrillowitsch Graf Rasumowsky was the Russian ambassador in Vienna. The Russian themes and allusions in all three of the Rasumovsky opus 59 quartets were included at the Count's suggestion.
Not compulsory reading, but for those who may welcome them, here are the programme notes and links from wikipedia: The introductory andante con moto section of the first movement is not directly related to the rest of the movement and serves a similar function to the introduction of his Op. 74 quartet. Thereafter, the movement's main thematic material is exposed and developed. The relation (or apparent lack thereof) between the slow, sombre and dissonant introduction and the bright allegro which follows, is similar to what is found in Mozart's "Dissonance" Quartet, also in the key of C. The quartet's second movement makes use of an augmented second in the descending scale first played by the first violin at the beginning of the movement. This interval, repeated through the movement, gives it an association with the Hungarian scale. Unlike the other two opus 59 quartets, this one does not have an explicit "Theme Russe" in any of its movements. Nevertheless, it can be argued that this second movement with its sparse texture and comfortless melodies, evokes a Russian feel by bringing to mind the vast, barren and desolate landscape of the Siberian tundra. The quartet's third movement is a lighter menuetto which provides the motif that is subsequently turned upside down for the last movement, a fugal allegro molto that begins with the viola and adds the second violin, cello and first violin in that order. The movement is in alla breve time and is almost a perpetuum mobile in quavers. The fugue is semi-rigorous, somewhere between the fugato of Mozart's string quartet K.387 and the rigorous fugue of his Adagio and Fugue K.546. About halfway into the movement, a contrasting theme is introduced, which moves in minims. The movement concludes with an enormous Mannheim crescendo, peaking at an implicit fff. |
Franz Josef Haydn (1732-1809) String Quartet No 64 in D major, Op 76 No 5 Hob III:79 Largo or Friedhofsquartett (1796-97) Slow, stately or Graveyard quartet i Allegretto Fairly quick ii Largo. Cantabile e mesto Slow, stately. A singing style and sad. iii Menuetto. Allegro Slow, graceful, as a minuet. Fast iv Finale. Presto Finale. Very fast performed by the Jasper String Quartet, at the Soka Performing Arts Center, of the Soka University of America, Aliso Viejo, California, in November 2013. J Freivogel, violin (he is known solely as 'J') Karen Kim, violin Sam Quintal, viola Rachel Henderson Freivogel, cello |
Here are the wikipedia notes and links for Haydn's String Quartet No 64: The first movement (in D major, 6:8 time) departs from the sonata form of the first four to what Robin Golding describes as "unorthodox variations". The second movement, written in F♯ major in cut time, is in sonata form. The third movement, in D major and D minor, is a standard minuet and trio, while the fourth movement's D Major, cut time Presto is in an irregular sonata form. Haydn's Op. 76 No. 5 has been nicknamed the Largo and Friedhofsquartett (Graveyard-Quartet). Both stem from its substantial slow movement, which dominates the work. "[It is] called the Graveyard Quartet because the second movement … is often played at burials," writes Sonia Simmenauer in her book Must It Be?: Life in a Quartet. "The focus and core of the work is the extended Largo in the unusual and remote key of F♯ major," comments German music journalist Felix Werthschulte. "A melancholy-beautiful lament … the main theme resounds, but becomes quieter and quieter, before the music finally falls silent. A farewell in tones – grieving, but also solemn and dignified." Werthschule adds that the movement "is still sometimes played at funeral services, because this music not only sounds sad, it also gives comfort." |
ENCORE
Producer: Peter Steadman |
Franz Josef Haydn
from String Quartet No Op 33 No 3 Hob III:39 (1781) The Bird iv Finale. Rondo - Presto Finale. Rondo (recurring theme) - Very fast. performed by the Tetra String Quartet (in more intimate surroundings than today's works) Chrystal Smothers, violin Heidi Wright, violin Louis Privitera, viola Jenna Dalbey, cello Established as a not-for-profit in their Arizona home-state, Tetra's mission is both performance and education, particularly reaching people who would not generally hear this kind of music. Tetra work with autism, with elderly care, memory care, with hospitals, and in juvenile detention centres. |
We hope you have enjoyed your String Quartet Concert Online
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