String Quartet (Verdi)

The String Quartet in E minor is a chamber music work of Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi. It was created in 1873, two years after the premiere of the opera Aida, even before the composition of the Messa da Requiem. The premiere took place on 1 April 1873 as a private performance in the lobby of the Albergo della Crocelle in Naples instead.

Formation

Verdi's only string quartet arose during rehearsals for the Neapolitan premiere of Aida at the Teatro San Carlo, where Verdi had traveled with his wife Giuseppina. After the samples had because of an indisposition of the singer Teresa Stolz, who was to sing the Aida, delayed, Verdi found time to compose the string quartet. The premiere took place two days after the premiere of Aida in private. Verdi had not initially intended the work to publication, there was but after further successful performance on 1 June 1876 at the Paris Hôtel de Bath to his publisher Ricordi. In the same year the work was published by Ricordi, Schott (Mainz) and Escudier in Paris in pressure.

Set names

The playing time is about 24 minutes.

Analysis

Despite the echoes of Aida, who are mainly found in the 1st set, Verdi oriented in his string quartet mainly to the Viennese classics, with the Wolfgang Stähr because of the fugue in the final movement a formal adaptation of Joseph Haydn's String Quartet in C major, Op 20 No. 2 suspected. Julian Budden, however the header sees parallels to Mozart's G minor string quintet.

The first set corresponds to the sonata form. First, the Second violin carries the main theme before on the lowest string, in bar 1 dolce, in cycle 2 sotto voce ( in a low voice ). The secondary theme is sung in measure 11, the cello. In the implementation, which also receives elements of counterpoint, a lyrical third theme is introduced. After Otto Schumann " the scarce pictorial receive " remains in the implementation.

The second movement, the Andantino is tripartite. There prevails an "easy A minor melancholy ", which is offset by the " moving force of the middle part " in G flat major.

The third set corresponds to a scherzo. The pace is initially prestissimo (very fast), like a danse infernal ( Infernal Dance ), while the trio is more vocally and is first intoned, as in a serenade by the cello, then picked up by the first violin and accompanied by the pizzicato of the other strings.

In the final sentence, the contract with Scherzo. Fuga called, shows up in the Fuga a counterpoint, which refers to the Messa da Requiem, the final fugue in Falstaff and the hymn to Mary in the Quattro pezzis sacri. The fugal form of the sentence is maintained until the end, but by an " enriched sweet harmonies and cadences. "

Side oriented to the Viennese classical counterpoint and the points can be found in Verdi's String Quartet quite operatic elements in different figures of the accompanying voices or the cello - Cantilena in the 3rd set. Also Budden pointed to this stylistic device out: " [ ... ] the occasional drift into a frieze -like figuration reveals the composer of accompanying figures, which are common in the opera. "

Reception

Verdi's String Quartet is in the context of the conflict between the dominant genre of opera in Italy and purely instrumental music. After Verdi's opinion of the string quartet in Italy " like a plant outside its climate " lived. This situation also changed the first founded in 1861 by Abramo Società del Quartetto Basevi (Quartet Society) in Florence nothing.

Verdi's String Quartet, which is often viewed as an opportunity to work, yet is the only Italian chamber music of the 19th century, which was able to maintain consistently in the concert repertoire. This was confirmed by Otto Schumann in his Handbook of chamber music: " The musical 19th century Italy has produced only one really important chamber music work, which was able to prevail throughout the world. Verdi's E minor String Quartet "

Budden summed up: " Verdi Quartet may not quite reach the level of the great classical quartets, but it is certainly a beautiful and original contribution to the repertoire. "

Verdi himself measured the work of no great importance to and commented later. "I do not know if it's good or bad, but a quartet is "