String Quartet (Ravel)
String Quartet | |
---|---|
by Maurice Ravel | |
Key | F major |
Composed | 1903 |
Dedication | Gabriel Fauré |
Performed | 5 March 1904 |
Movements | four |
Maurice Ravel completed his String Quartet in F major in early April 1903 at the age of 28. It was premiered in Paris in March the following year. The work follows a four-movement classical structure: the opening movement, in sonata form, presents two themes that occur again later in the work; a playful scherzo second movement is followed by a lyrical slow movement. The finale reintroduces themes from the earlier movements and ends the work vigorously.
The quartet's structure is modelled on that of Claude Debussy's String Quartet, written in 1893, although Ravel's musical ideas strongly contrast with Debussy's. Debussy admired Ravel's piece rather more than did its dedicatee, Ravel's teacher Gabriel Fauré.
Background
Ravel attended the
The quartet has superficial resemblances to Debussy's String Quartet, written ten years earlier. Debussy approved of his younger colleague's work, and sent him an encouraging letter.[3] The structure of Ravel's quartet is modelled on Debussy's, but where Debussy's music is, in Arbie Orenstein's words, "effusive, uninhibited, and open[ing] up fresh paths", Ravel's displays emotional reticence, innovation within traditional forms, and unrivalled technical mastery.[4] Ravel followed a direction he described as "opposite to that of Debussy's symbolism", abandoning "the vagueness and formlessness of the early French impressionists in favour of a return to classic standards."[5]
The quartet was premiered by the Heymann Quartet at a concert of the
Structure
The quartet is in four movements.
I. Allegro moderato – très doux
The movement is in traditional
II. Assez vif – très rythmé
As in Debussy's quartet, the scherzo is the second movement and opens with a pizzicato passage. This first theme is in the Aeolian mode, which some writers, including the Ravel scholar Arbie Orenstein, detect the influence of the Javanese gamelan, which had greatly impressed both Debussy and Ravel when heard in Paris in 1889.[14] Others hear in it echoes of Ravel's Spanish descent.[15]
The central section of the music is a slow, wistful theme led by the cello. Ravel uses
III. Très lent
Despite the marking "very slow", the third movement has numerous changes of tempo. The viola introduces the first theme, which the first violin then repeats. There are strong thematic links with the first movement, and, in defiance of orthodox rules of harmony, conspicuous use of consecutive fifths. The music is rhapsodic and lyrical; it begins and ends in G♭ major with passages in A minor and D minor.[13]
IV. Vif et agité
The finale reverts to the F major of the first movement. It is loosely in the form of a
Duration
The work generally takes about half an hour to play. Some typical timings on record are given in the following table.
Quartet I II III IV Total Ref Talich 7:51 6:24 8:13 4:34 27:02 [16] Amati 7:57 6:45 8:10 5:00 27:52 [17] Belcea 7:49 6:02 8:35 5:27 27:53 [18] Melos 8:11 6:21 9:07 4:46 28:25 [19] Alban Berg 7:40 6:51 9:20 4:54 28:45 [20] Chilingirian 8:36 6:21 8:39 5:28 29:04 [21] Ébène8:50 6:29 9:47 4:40 29:46 [22] Juilliard 8:57 6:31 9:19 5:27 30:14 [23] Brodsky 8:41 6:27 9:40 5:34 30:22 [24]
Arrangements
During Ravel's lifetime, Ginette Martenot transcribed the first movement of the quartet for ondes Martenot, gaining the composer's approval.[25] There are arrangements for solo piano and two pianos (both arranged by Lucien Garban) and for piano four hands (arranged by Maurice Delage).[26] The conductor Rudolf Barshai arranged the quartet for small string orchestra in 2003.[27]
Notes
- ^ White, p. 30
- ^ Kelly, Barbara L. "Ravel, Maurice", Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press, retrieved 26 June 2015 (subscription required)
- ^ Letter from Debussy, dated 4 March 1904, reproduced in Nichols, p. 53
- ^ Orenstein, p. 127
- JSTOR 41212291(subscription required)
- ^ Nichols, p. 52
- ^ Orenstein, pp. 39–40
- ^ Orenstein, p. 40
- JSTOR 904561(subscription required)
- ^ "Foreign Notes", The Musical Times, Vol. 51, No. 814 (1 December 1910), p. 805 (subscription required)
- JSTOR 905760(subscription required)
- ^ Orenstein, p. 39
- ^ a b c d Nichols, pp. 52–54; Orenstein, p. 55; and Stowell|p. 256
- Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press, retrieved 26 February 2015 (subscription required)
- ^ Stowell, p. 256
- OCLC 906570425
- OCLC 299069067
- OCLC 885050737
- OCLC 808419101
- OCLC 885042184
- OCLC 885038370
- OCLC 754506176
- OCLC 30528199
- OCLC 811550709
- ^ Laurendeau, p. 23
- ^ "Quatuors. Cordes. O 35. Fa majeur, Maurice Ravel (187–1937)", Bibliothèque nationale de France. Retrieved 23 November 2022
- ^ "Rudolf Barshai", The Daily Telegraph, 4 November 2010
References
- Laurendeau, Jean (2008). Messiaen – Fête des belles eaux (Media notes). Québec: OCLC 820358747. ATMA ACD2 2621.
- ISBN 978-0-300-10882-8.
- ISBN 978-0-486-26633-6.
- Stowell, Robin (2003). The Cambridge Companion to the String Quartet. ISBN 978-0-521-80194-2.
- White, John David (1976). The Analysis of Music. Englewood Cliffs, US: Prentice-Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-033233-2.
External links
- String Quartet (Ravel): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
- Performance by the Musicians from Marlboro from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in MP3 format