Quatuor concertant

The quatuor concertant is a special form of the string quartet that developed in Paris around 1775 and remained one of the leading genres in Parisian musical culture until the French Revolution .

term

The term Quatuor concertant can be found on numerous printed sheet music of string quartets published in Paris, not all of which correspond formally to the type of the concertante string quartet. While the term may initially simply emphasize the solo instrumentation, from around 1776 it is mainly used for string quartets in which the various voices take turns taking the leading role.

Characteristic

The Quatuors concertants are usually in two movements, more rarely in three movements. The two-movement works usually consist of an Allegro as the first movement and a Rondo or variation movement as the second movement. In the three-movement pieces, the first Allegro is usually followed by a slow movement and a fast Allegro or Presto as the finale. Characteristic of the Quatuor concertant are the alternating solos of different voices (whereby the cello is also included in some cases), catchy, often operatic melodies and a great ingenuity in harmonic, rhythmic and melodic detail. There are clear parallels to the symphony concertante, which was also cultivated in Paris . The Quatuor d'airs connus is a special form, which consists of variations on popular melodies (both folk songs and opera arias).

The Quatuor concertant can be distinguished from the Quatuor brilliant , which was created around 1800 , in which the first violin dominates and is accompanied by the three other voices.

Important Parisian string quartet composers from 1770 to 1789

• François-Joseph Gossec (6 string quartets Op. 15, 1772)
• Nicholas Joseph Chartrain (36 string quartets, 1772–1785)
• Pierre Vachon (24 string quartets, ca.1772 - ca.1782)
• Joseph Boulogne de Saint-George (18 string quartets, 1773–1785)
• Jean-Baptiste Davaux (25 string quartets, 1773–1807)
• Giuseppe Cambini (174 quartets, 1773–1805, including some with flute)
• Etienne Bernard Barrière (18 string quartets, 1776–1782)
• Jean-Baptiste Bréval (18 string quartets, 1776–1785)
• Nicolas Dalayrac (36 string quartets, 1777–1781)
• Josephus Fodor (24 string quartets, 1781–1789)
• Giovanni Battista Viotti (15 string quartets, 1783–1817)
• Federigo Fiorillo (15 string quartets, 1786–1799)

literature

• Krummacher, Friedhelm: Das Streichquartett, Vol. 1: From Haydn to Schubert (Handbook of Musical Genres 6.1), 2001, pp. 191–222.
• Trimpert, Dieter Lutz: The Quatuors concertants by Giuseppe Cambini, Schneider: Tutzing 1967.
• Levy, Janet Muriel: The Quatuor concertant in Paris in the Later Half of the Eighteenth Century, Diss. Stanford 1971.